You are not Alone: Earthbender
by Feeruk
Summary: A wise man once said that friendship can be powerful enough to transcend lifetimes. If that's true, then what could love be powerful enough to accomplish? As Korra and Naruto Beifong grow closer to one another, they will begin to discover that it can change the world. AU, Earthbender Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Naruto nor the Legend of Korra. This is strictly a work of fanfiction that's being written and published without any intention of making a profit.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **Warnings:** AU, Older (19), Bender, OOC-ish Naruto. Slightly altered history of the bending world. Potential rule-breaking regarding the methodology behind the four bending styles, the applications of the bending styles, and the functionality of anything related to the spiritual side of the Avatar universe.

A handful of other Naruto characters will make appearances throughout this story and just like Naruto himself, they will be AU versions of their canon equivalents. Chakra, for all intents and purposes, will not exist.

Naruto's heritage and personal history are not canon. While I'll be trying to keep his personality mostly in-line with his canon counterpart, expect some noteworthy differences here and there due to differences in their upbringing.

Naruto will be rather powerful throughout this story in comparison to the average individual in the bending world. While I don't think I'm turning him into a complete Gary Stu this go around, if you typically don't enjoy stories with main characters that are at least a touch on the overpowered side, this isn't likely to be something you'll find enjoyment in reading.

 **Pairings:** Naruto/Korra. Asami, Bolin, Mako and a few others will all end up in a pairing of some sort eventually as well, but I'll be keeping them under wraps as most of them impact the plot in one way or another.

 **Credit where it's due:** Several other fanfics that I have read have given me ideas or otherwise inspired me to write this. Foremost among them and the one story that I would feel downright sleazy about failing to credit in at least some manner is Engineer4Ever's "The Tides Change Once More." Not only did it suck me into the Naruto/LoK crossover universe, but it was also the first story I had read that portrayed Naruto as both an Earthbender and a member of the Beifong family. If that story didn't exist, then this one wouldn't either.

* * *

 **You are not alone.**

Chapter 1

* * *

 ** _Korra_**

"You can explain yourself all you like down at headquarters, but you're still under arrest."

Standing before the aged Metalbending officer and two of his underlings while the others rounded up the gangsters within the recently destroyed shop next to her, Korra quickly released the grip she had on the metal cables that ran back to a sleek arm-guard on the officer's uniform as he retracted a portion of them. Whipping his arm, he made an attempt to quickly wrap them around her torso, but she quickly fell backwards into a smooth roll to dodge. Nimbly rolling up to her feet, her gaze shot up just in time to spot her trusty Polar Bear Dog slamming into the man's back and sending him sprawling down to the ground.

 _'Good girl, Naga.'_

"What are you idiots doing?! Grab her!"

Seeing the officer push himself back up to his feet with two subordinates now rushing in to assist him, Korra quickly turned and hopped onto the saddle strapped to Naga's back. "Go girl, run," she cried, grabbing the reigns and tugging them off to the side. Obeying without hesitation, the large beast quickly turned and started to run away, quickly picking up speed.

"Pursue the suspect!"

Arcing her head over the back of her shoulder, Korra quickly spotted the three of the uniformed men chasing after her on foot.

 _'Gotta get back onto the main road, there's too many turns here to outrun them.'_

Tugging on Naga's reigns again, her companion slowed down and made a sharp turn. Turning her gaze to the side, Korra spotted the officer who had started this entire situation in mid-air and closing in on her. Raising up a leg, she let him slam face-first into her boot before pushing him away as Naga started to regain her previous momentum, quickly putting some distance between them. Keeping herself low on the saddle, the duo quickly progressed down the long street towards a small stone bridge that arced over a stream.

"C'mon girl, faster! We need to get to Tenzin before theEEEEEEEEAAAH!" Korra screamed, feeling something suddenly wrap around her ponytail, snap her head back sharply and attempt to pull her off of the saddle. Straining to keep her eyes open because of the sharp pain in her scalp and neck, she barely managed to notice the glimmer of the sun's rays reflecting off of the water beneath the bridge she was now crossing. Raising both of her arms, she swirled her palms around and brought up a large amount of the liquid behind her. Clenching her fists, the sizable barrier that it had formed quickly transformed into a wall of solid ice.

"UGH!"

Glancing back over her shoulder as the force trying to pull her backwards vanished, Korra spotted one of the Metalbenders who had been chasing her embedded in the far side of the ice wall. _'Asshole must have caught my hair with one of his cables. Spirits that hurt.'_

Turning her gaze back to her front, Korra's eyes went wide at the sight of a man with spiky blond hair standing on the other side of the bridge in an odd stance that she couldn't immediately identify: both of his forearms bent up at a sharp angle with his palms turned up and fingers slightly curled. Standing his ground even as Naga continued rushing towards him at her full speed, his fingered curled inwards further and he stomped on the ground – an action that opened a large hole on the road Naga was just about to step onto.

"Naga stoAAAAAAH!" Shouting as she and her companion tumbled over the edge of the hole, Korra heard Naga release a panicked bark. Their shared fear was quickly brought to an end, however, when they both quickly slammed into the bottom of the pit with a muffled thud, sending thousands of sand particles into the air.

 _'Sand? How did he…?'_

A loud smacking noise redirected her attention to Naga, the Polar Bear Dog's floppy ears slapping against herself as she shook her head and rose back up to her feet.

"You okay girl?"

A happy sounding bark was an affirmative enough answer for Korra's liking. Letting out a relieved sigh, she glanced upwards and quickly noted that the pit was only somewhere around fifteen feet deep. A moment later, her eyes honed in on the blond standing up at the lip of the pit. Clad in an orange, long-sleeved tunic, a thick band of metal wrapped over his left bicep, loose black pants and a pair of black, open-toed boots, he struck quite the figure. Three black, whisker-like markings ran along either of his cheeks and his cerulean blue eyes were peering down at her.

"You both alright down there?!"

"Yeah, we're fine!" A beat passed, clarity returning to her as the adrenaline began to wear off. Brow beginning to tick, Korra felt anger well up in her belly. "What the Hell were you thinking?! You could have really hurt Naga!"

"Oh keep your pants on, the sand was there so you two wouldn't get hurt!"

Opening her mouth to retort, Korra promptly snapped it shut as she heard a series of thumps followed by the sounds of footsteps and clinking metal. Another moment passed before the Metalbending officer she had kicked moved into view, standing atop the edge of the pit to glare down at her. Raising an arm, he quickly beckoned over the two other officers that had been pursuing her – one looking to be in pristine shape while the other's nose was bent sharply to the side and blood ran liberally down his nostrils.

"Restrain her."

Before she could do little more than slightly raise her arms, Korra found herself bound tightly by four separate metal cables – one shooting out from each gauntlet that the two men wore. Wriggling within them to try and free herself, she couldn't so much as raise a finger.

"Beifong…why am I not surprised to see you here?"

All struggling stopped as the familiar name reached her ears. Keeping her gaze upwards, her eyes quickly locked onto the blond that the question had obviously been directed at.

"Geez, the way you say that makes it sound like you didn't want my help."

"I didn't. You know the law; you shouldn't have interfered in our pursuit."

"Pursuit, huh? Is that what you guys are calling it nowadays? If I hadn't seen the trick little Miss Waterbender here had pulled on one of your men at the bridge, I wouldn't have even known she was being chased. Maybe lay off the doughnuts at the station a little? You guys are getting kinda slow."

"Always the funny man, aren't you?" The irritation in the officer's tone was obvious even from Korra's perspective.

"I sure like to think so." The blond chuckled. "Anyway, can you guys take it from here? I nee-"

"You won't be going anywhere. This road was Republic City property and we have standing orders from the chief to bring you in if you damaged any form of public property again. You'll be coming into the station with us."

"…Say what now?"

* * *

 ** _Naruto_**

"Hands behind your back."

"…Really Chouji?" Naruto deadpanned, staring blankly at the young Metalbending officer who had given him the command. He had a headful of spiky light-brown hair and, though his face held a bit of fat on his cheeks, he looked to be quite fit while clad in his uniform. "Platinum cuffs are bad enough as is, but behind the back too?"

"Sorry," he smiled sheepishly, glancing to the police-brand Satomobile that his commanding officer – the man who had ordered Naruto's detainment – had been seated within ever since it had arrived several minutes ago. "I've got orders, nothing personal."

Sighing, the blond turned around and pulled his arms backwards, placing his hands next to one another at the small of his back. "Get on with it then."

"Thanks for doing this without a fight." Chouji chuckled even as he slapped a pair of cuffs around Naruto's wrists. "I didn't exactly look forward to trying to forcefully restrain you. Looks bad enough when you hit people with Pro-Bending discs, I don't even wanna imagine what you can do with a real chunk of stone."

"…Y'know, I think I'd normally be flattered by that, but something about being arrested by the guy who says it kind of spoils the compliment a little."

"I figured, but what can you do?" Grabbing his shoulder, Chouji turned him around and nudged him in the direction of the sole ground vehicle in the area.

"You guys are putting me in the same Satomobile as the person I helped you catch? There's no way that's standard procedure."

"Heh, it isn't, but the girl you helped us catch isn't exactly what I would call standard. Besides, you'll both be cuffed."

"Isn't what you would call standard? What do you mean by that?"

"Well we haven't confirmed it yet, but the reason we were pursuing her in the first place was because she got in a tussle with the Triple Threats. They apparently duked it out and, at least according to witnesses, she used Water, Earth _and_ Firebending against 'em."

Pausing mid-step, Naruto slowly turned himself partially around and looked the man in the eye. "Are you telling me that I met the freaking Avatar and the first thing I did was help get her arrested?"

Choji blinked a few times before smiling. "You said it, not me."

"…Touché." Chortling, Naruto let himself be gently pushed towards the back of the Satomobile and waited as Chouji stepped around him to open up the door and reveal the small interior. Seated on one of the built-in benches that lined both inner-walls was none other than the dark-skinned brunette he had helped capture. There were no longer cables wrapped around her body to restrain her, but her hands were locked in front of her with a pair of handcuffs. She turned towards him as the door was opened, her blue eyes locking with his own for a moment before she promptly snorted and turned her head away.

 _'So that's the Avatar, huh?'_

"Hop up and mind your head."

Doing as ordered, Naruto crouched down slightly and hopped into the vehicle, taking a seat both across and slightly to the side of his fellow detainee so their knees wouldn't be poking into one another.

"You two play nice now, you hear? Don't go trying to hurt each other or the Sergeant will pull over and call us down to restrain you further." Slamming the door shut before either of the teens could retort, Chouji slammed two meaty smacks upon it and walked off. As if the smacks were a signal of some sort, the engine of the Satomobile quickly roared to life and the vehicle began to move.

 _'Tch, as if I'd start something in here. Aunt Lin's probably going to crucify me as is, I don't need to add more fuel to that fire.'_

Shaking his head in an attempt to ward of thoughts of the unpleasant conversation that was likely going to be had far too soon for his liking, Naruto let his eyes wander back to the teenage girl across from him. Even with her face turned mostly away from him, he could still easily see that she was quite attractive. Her wavy brunette hair was tied up into a ponytail with another handful of it funneled through blue bands that that rested upon either side of her face. The way her sleeveless, light-blue tunic clung to her torso highlighted not only the curves of her breasts, but also the toned abdominal muscles she possessed. The style of the aforementioned tunic along with the various wraps she had on her arms, the leather tunic tied around her waist, the dark-blue coloration of her pants and the leather boots upon her feet made it quite obvious to anyone who would spared her even a passing glance that she was likely born in one of the Water Tribes.

Naruto leaned forward, the vibrating walls of the Satomobile growing too uncomfortable for both his head and his back. Turning his head to keep looking in his fellow teen's direction, he smiled softly. "So, word on the street is you're the Avatar?"

The girl's head snapped over to look at him, her eyes boring into his own once again, though this time surprise was written across her features more so than disdain.

"How did you…?"

"The cop who chucked me in here is a friend of mine. He gave me a basic rundown of what happened. Scuffle with the Triple Threats, right?"

"Triple Threats?"

"Yeah. You know, the Triple Threat Triad? One of the biggest gangs in the city? Ringing any bells?"

"Nope. I haven't been here that long, so I don't really know much about things like that." The girl's shoulders suddenly slumped and her head dipped down slightly. "Not even in the city for an entire day and I already got myself in trouble," she muttered under her breath.

"Heh, well I probably didn't help things by trapping you in a pit. Sorry about that by the way." Naruto offered her a sheepish grin.

"…It didn't end up hurting me or Naga, so I guess it's alright." The brunette's head suddenly perked up, suddenly looking a lot more interested in speaking to him. "How'd you make that sand at the bottom of the hole so fast? It takes me freaking forever to grind up Earth enough to make it."

 _'…Right, all four elements, not just the one. I really need to stop thinking she's a Waterbender just because of her clothes.'_

"I guess being an awesome Earthbender just runs in my family."

"That's right, you're a Beifong!" Eyes wide and a smile pulling at her lips, the brunette suddenly looked as if she was about to start bouncing off of the walls.

"Sure am. Naruto Beifong at your service," the blond bowed his head slightly. "I'd offer to shake your hand but…" Shifting his hands around behind his back, he made his cuffs clink off of one another to make his point.

"Korra," the girl introduced herself in return. "So you're Toph's…grandson?"

"One of 'em, yep."

"One of them? There's more than just you?"

"Mhmm. I've got four brothers and a sister. …Well, technically half-brothers and a half-sister, but it's the same thing for all I care."

"Wow, I had no idea!" Korra leaned towards him slightly. "I'd only ever heard of her daughter that became the Chief of Police, but I don't even know her name."

"Uuuugh!" Naruto let his body and head lull back until the back of his skull was pressed up against the inner-wall of the Satomobile. "Don't remind me! She's gonna tear me a new one when we get to the station."

"Err, why would she do that? Isn't it your job to stop the bad guys?"

 _'My job?'_ Naruto pondered, leveling his head to gaze at his counterpart again.

"Not that I'm a bad guy or anything," Korra insisted, raising up her hands and waving them with her palms facing out. "But I can kinda see why you and the other Metalbenders thought I was."

 _'Oh,'_ Naruto had to resist the urge to smack his head against the wall when realization dawned upon him. _'I get it now.'_ "I don't work for the police."

"But I thought…"

"That I worked for the police because I'm a Beifong?"

"Yeah, I guess I did," Korra admitted with a rueful smile. "Sorry, I just kind of assumed..."

"I've gotten used to it, so no worries. People always seem to assume one thing or another about me because of my family," Naruto shrugged. "I have a standing offer to join the police if I ever really want to, but Pro-Bending is more fun and pays a lot better."

"Wait, what? You're a Pro-Bender?!"

"Mhmm. You're a fan?"

"Sort of?" Korra said, the inflection in her voice making it seem like a question more so than a statement. "I've heard about it and it sounds fun, but I've never seen a match or anything. Kinda hard to do that in the South Pole."

"Fair point," Naruto chortled. "Even if you had the benders for it, I can't imagine many people would be willing to freeze their asses off just to go down there and watch the matches. I take it you just heard about it through word of mouth or something then?"

Korra nodded after thinking for a moment. "Pretty much. I overheard a few members of the White Lotus talking about it every once in a while. They always talked about the teams they liked more than anything else, but they made it sound like the bending going on was amazing anytime it got brought up."

"The bending skill in most matches is definitely up there, but it isn't anything super impressive, so don't get your hopes _too_ high. I could fill you in on the basics of everything about it if you want? We should have some time to kill until we get to the station anyway."

"Sure, that sounds good."

"Alright then." Spotting the small smile that stretched across Korra's lips made his own curl slightly upwards. "Well then, I guess the rules are as good a place to start as any…"

* * *

"Seriously? They just let that kinda thing happen?"

"Unfortunately," Naruto chuckled upon seeing Korra's incredulous expression. "I've heard that they don't get paid particularly well, so it isn't too much of a stretch to think they'd take a bribe to look the other way when the Wolfbats start cheating. The whole thing still left my team and a bunch of other people pissed off though."

"Well yeah! I mean, it sounds like you guys would've won otherwise, right?"

"Definitely."

"Then I'd be pissed off too! The whole thing sounds so…so…" the brunette trailed off as she searched for the right word.

"Sleazy?"

"That," Korra snapped her fingers and nodded. "I bet the crowd wasn't very happy either if the cheating was as obvious as you said."

"Heh, no they were not. You should've heard how loud nearly everyone in the stadium was booing, it was crazy."

"I can imagine," the brunette closed her eyes for a moment and let a thin smile cross her face.

"Still looking forward to seeing a match sometime?"

Korra's eyes snapped back open, but her smile remained in place. "Yep. The rules with the zones and the discs sound kind of silly, but it still sounds like it'd be amazing to watch. The way you talked about the crowd really makes me wanna be there to see what it's like myself."

"Well, if we get out of this whole situation without being sent to jail, I might be able to help with that." Naruto grinned. "How would you like to see a match from the best seats in the stadium?"

"You can do that?"

"Oh yeah, me and Sakura bring in kids all the time to watch the matches from the locker room, so I could get you in without a problem. It's the least I could do after what happened earlier."

Suddenly, the Satomobile drastically slowed and made a sharp turn. Though both teens held their positions on the bench well enough, they both tensed slightly as the vehicle came to a complete stop and the engine was cut. The loud clinking of metal armor moving about followed shortly thereafter along with the driver's side door of the vehicle being opened and then slammed shut.

"Sergeant," a masculine-sounding voice greeted tersely. "Beifong and the Avatar?"

 _'Aw crap, I was hoping it'd be a day or two before I got grief from him about this too.'_

"Yes, Sir."

"I have orders from the chief to escort them both to the interrogation rooms. Are they both still restrained?"

"Yes Sir, standard cuffs for the Avatar and platinum cuffs for Beifong. All by the book."

"Good," the all-too-familiar voice claimed before one of the men snapped their fingers. Promptly afterwards, the clinking of metal armor began again and approached the back of the Satomobile. Moments later, the door was pulled open to reveal five Metalbending Police Officers standing close by. The Sergeant who had arrested both of the teens was lurking behind them all and standing next to a familiar black-haired, onyx-eyed teen.

"Hey guys." Naruto stood up and smiled in the face of the nearby Metalbenders. "I appreciate the gesture, but the welcome party isn't really necessary." The group of men smiled back, one even breaking into soft chuckles, but they didn't move from their positions.

"Not this time. The chief wants a word with you."

"Aww c'mon Sasuke!" Hopping down from the Satomobile, Naruto skirted through the Metalbenders and moved towards the two other men until they were within arm's reach. "You're supposed to have my back here!"

"I have your back in the arena, not when you go and get yourself arrested." Though his face was mostly stoic, the corners of his lips curved just slightly upwards.

"Oh come on, it's practically the same thing!"

"No, it really isn't."

"Is too!"

"…I'm not arguing over this."

"What's the matter? Too scared you'll lose?"

Sasuke's lips curved upwards another inch even as he closed his eyes, chuckled and shook his head. "You are such an idiot."

"What was that? You wanna go buddy?!" Pulling his hands out from behind his back, Naruto squared up his fists in a comical manner, the cuffs that had been restraining his arms dangling loosely around his left wrist. He pointedly ignored how the nearby Sergeant tensed up and the gob smacked look that crossed his face. "Put 'em up, loser! Let's do this!"

Sasuke opened his eyes and sighed wearily. "Let's just go inside and get this over with. I've got a mountain of paperwork to do and I don't feel like staying late just because I have to deal with your nonsense."

"Take all the fun out of it, why don't ya'?" Naruto sighed and let his arms drop to his sides. "Fine, I guess we'll do it your way. Should I put my hands behind my back and pretend I'm still cuffed or…?"

"That depends. Does the chief know you can get out of those?"

"She should. I had to show her the same bending shtick I showed you and Sakura – she wouldn't believe me otherwise."

"Nor should she." Sasuke paused and seemed to ponder for a moment before giving a curt nod. "If she knows then feel free to keep them off. So long as I don't get my ass chewed out over it, I don't really care."

Reaching over with his freed right hand, Naruto grabbed part of the cuff and pulled, the muscles in his right bicep straining as the metal slowly bent just enough to slip his wrist through. Once his hand was freed, he let the metal device unceremoniously fall to the floor. "Thanks man, this is _so_ much better. Those things make my wrists sweat like you wouldn't believe."

"H-he…Y-you…" Turning, the blond's eyes fell upon the Sergeant once again. The man had his index finger held out towards him in an accusatory manner while his face had paled and his eyes had gone wide.

"Huh?"

"Impossible," the man finally managed to say. "That's impossible."

"What is?" Naruto asked and followed the man's eyes as they flickered down towards the floor. "Oh, getting out of the cuffs? Nah, nothin' to it."

"They're made of pure platinum! It's impossible to bend a metal that's so pure!"

"Just like it was impossible to bend metal at all until my grandma figured out how to do it. We figure out how to do _impossible_ things with bending all the time, it isn't that big of a deal." Naruto redirected his gaze to Sasuke. "Can you believe this guy? _Impossible_ he says. Hah!"

"I can't exactly fault him. No one else has done it before and it isn't as if you've made a big deal about being able to do it."

"…Fair enough, I guess."

Hearing the clinking of metal armor suddenly approach him from behind, Naruto turned his head over his shoulder to see the Metalbenders he had passed before standing in a u-shaped formation with Korra standing in the middle of them.

"Orders, Sir?"

"Throw them both in interrogation room three," Sasuke commanded, his voice growing authoritative.

"Are you sure that's wise, Lieutenant?" The Sergeant next to him asked, still looking as if he had recently seen a ghost, though he had obviously recovered from his shock to a certain degree. "Standard procedure says t—"

"Are you questioning my orders?" Though Sasuke didn't sound angry as he turned his head towards the man, but there was a certain hardness in his eyes that demanded obedience.

"N-no, Sir."

"Interrogation room three," the Lieutenant repeated as he turned back to regard the other officers. "The chief can separate them herself if she feels the need to whenever the time comes. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir!"

* * *

"Thanks for this, my son's a huge fan."

"No problem at all," Naruto chuckled as he finished signing a small black-and-white poster that displayed an image of himself, Sasuke and Sakura posing for a picture in their Pro-Bending uniforms. Capping the marker he had been given, he handed both it and the poster back to the portly middle-aged Metalbender who had lingered in the interrogation room after the others had stayed. "Who's his favorite?"

"Ah, Sakura," the man admitted sheepish smile as he pocketed both of the items. "We recently found out he's a Waterbender so…"

"I gotcha. Can't really fault him even if he was some other kind of bender, she _is_ pretty amazing."

"Heh, yeah. Well, I should go before I get dinged for this. Thanks again man!"

Without glancing back, the man walked through the open door before it promptly slammed shut. Barring a large, treated glass window that stretched across one wall, the room was composed entirely of metal – even the table and chairs were made of the sturdy material.

"That kinda thing happen a lot?"

"Mhmm." Chuckling, Naruto turned to lock gazes with Korra. Sitting across from him, the brunette had her cuffed hands on the table and was fidgeting with her fingers. _'Probably nervous about what's going to happen.'_ Memories of his Aunt directing her ire towards him ran through his mind and he shivered.

"Heh, I guess you were telling the truth about being one of the top teams then."

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and arced a brow. "Did you think I was lying or something?"

"Well not really, but I mean come on…" Korra trailed off with a nervous laugh. "I just met you and you claim to be this super well-known Pro-Bender that I had never heard of before. I'd be stupid to not be at least a _little_ suspicious."

"Fair point," Naruto conceded after a brief pause. "That's probably a good mentality to have if you're planning on staying in the city."

"What do you mean?"

Sighing, the blond reclined back against the chair. "I think I heard you say in the Satomobile earlier that you've only been in the city for a day now, right?"

"Yeah." Korra suddenly looked sheepish. "Just since this afternoon, actually."

"Right. Well, since you haven't been here long enough to see it, you should know that Republic City isn't exactly the friendliest of places. If you meet four people on the street, odds are that at least one of them belongs to a gang. Seeing as you went and pissed off the biggest gang in the city already…"

"They'll probably be out to get me." Korra finished before snorting in amusement. "Let them try then. If they're anything like those other chumps, I probably won't even break a sweat."

"If you say so." Naruto shook his head and laughed softly. "I'm curious though, what made you get into a scuffle with them in the first place?"

The sound of movement to his left drew the blond's attention away as Korra made to respond. Slowly, part of the metal wall slid open to reveal the familiar figure of his Aunt clad in her uniform.

"I'd like to know that as well." Lin stepped into the room, clipboard in hand and a scowl etched onto her face. "Multiple counts of destruction of city property, evading arrest, not to mention assault of a police officer." Stopping as she reached the metal table, she slammed her clipboard down harshly as she turned and glared at Korra. "You're in a heap of trouble, young lady."

"It's not _my_ fault! Those thugs were threatening a shopkeeper, I couldn't jus—"

"Can it! If that's your excuse, you should have just called the police and minded your own business. Protecting citizens of Republic City is our job, not yours."

"Actually it kinda is he—"

"And _you!_ " Lin turned towards Naruto, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "This is the fifth time you've been seen destroying city property in the past two months! Not only that, but you've gone and interfered with a police pursuit! So please, what's your excuse this time? I'm just _thrilled_ to hear what it is."

"…Seriously? That Sergeant is trying to pin me with interfering with a pursuit? The other officers weren't even remotely nearby when I made the hole for her to fall in!"

"So you don't even deny destroying the road?"

"I mean, it was a stone road and all I did was lower it down a little and grind some of the Earth beneath it into sand." Meeting his Aunt's gaze, Naruto grinned. "I'd say it's more modifying than destroying." The glare he received in response made it clear that the jest was not welcome.

"Admission to one count of destruction of city property." Lin trailed off for a moment as she slipped a pen out of the clipboard and marked something down on the paper pinned to the top. "You are denying the interference charge, I presume?"

"Aw c'mon Aunty, ca—" Naruto cut himself off as the woman slammed her clipboard on the table and glared harshly at him once again.

"Within these walls, I am _not_ your Aunt and you will get _no_ special treatment from me! Is that understood?"

Sighing in frustration, Naruto turned his gaze across the table to see Korra glancing from him to Lin and back again. She sent him a small, uneasy smile that he was grateful for despite the fact he knew his expression didn't show it at that moment.

"Is that understood?!"

"I heard you the first time," the blond grumbled in irritation, keeping his gaze straight ahead. "Yes, I understand. Sorry, won't happen again."

A few moments of tense silence passed before Lin picked up the clipboard from the table again. "Do you deny the charge of interfering in a police pursuit?"

"Yes. I didn't impede your Metalbenders in any way."

"Was anyone in the area who would be able to corroborate your claim?"

"I'm not sure," Naruto sighed, closing his eyes and trying to envision the scene again. "One of the other officers might, bu—"

"I can." Both of the Beifongs' gazes quickly turned towards Korra.

"You?" Lin's voice sounded as if she were about to scoff. "You're in even more trouble than he is. Why should I believe a single word that comes out of your mouth?"

The brunette looked a bit insulted. "Because I'm the Avatar, it's my duty to h—"

"Help people, save the world, blah, blah, blah. Save the shtick for someone else, I'm well aware of who you are and what your job is supposed to be. Your little title might impress some people and get you out of trouble in other places, but in my eyes, you're nothing more than a bender who decided to try to dish out vigilante justice. So again, why should I believe anything you have to say?"

 _'Someone definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. I wonder what has her even more crabby than usual?'_

The sound of metal shifting drew Naruto's gaze towards the wall. Only a small portion of the wall had opened to reveal an officer's face.

"Chief, Councilman Tenzin is here and wants a word."

"Tsk, of course he does." Lin sighed after a moment and set her clipboard on the table before turning around to face the wall. "Send him in."

Nodding, the officer closed the window before an unseen door slid open. Clad in traditional Airbender attire with a red cape draped over his back and shoulders, Tenzin strode calmly into the room. He stopped at arm's length away from Lin, taking a moment to observe the room's occupants.

"Tenzin…" Korra began, looking incredibly sheepish once again. "Sorry, I got a little side-tracked on my way to see you."

 _'Well he's definitely pissed.'_ Naruto watched the man's brow twitch slightly despite the deep, calming breath he was taking. _'Then again, I guess I can see why considering the circumstances.'_

"Lin," Tenzin stated with a smile that was obviously plastered on. "You're looking as radiant as ever.

"Cut the crap, Tenzin." Lin's voice gave away nothing but her irritation. "Why is the Avatar in Republic City? I was told you were intending to move to the South Pole to train her."

"Given the current state of the city, I have delayed my relocation. The Avatar was meant to remain in the South Pole until such a time that I would be able to fully commit to her Airbending training. I intend to send her back immediately."

"But I –"

"If you would be so kind as to drop the charges," Tenzin raised his voice slightly, blatantly ignoring Korra's attempt to interrupt him. "I will take full responsibility for the events leading up to her arrest and personally cover all of the damages that were caused."

 _'Oh, I guess she isn't supposed to actually be here. That…explains a lot, actually.'_

A few long and tense moments passed in silence. Eventually, Lin glanced over her shoulder for a moment before sighing. "Fine," she stated with a wave of her hand that unlocked Korra's cuffs. "Get her out of my city. I'll have a list of the damage she caused sent to Air Temple Island."

"A pleasure as always, Lin. Korra, come with me."

"Uh, should I come too?"

"No, you stay." Lin's head snapped towards him. "Tenzin may have inadvertently taken responsibility for the damages you caused to the road, but that doesn't mean you're completely off the hook. Your claim about the pursuit still needs to be corroborated by my Metalbenders."

"Oh come on! We both know I wouldn't actually get in their way!"

Lin looked angered, but she restrained herself momentarily and looked towards Korra who was lingering at the table. "Leave. This is no longer any of your concern."

"But—"

"She's right," Tenzin called from the door. "What Naruto has or has not done is no business of ours. Let's go."

 _'Abandoning me to my doom, huh?'_ Glancing over and catching the older man's gaze, Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly. _'Alright, fine. We'll see how you like it when I teach Meelo a new trick or two.'_ Korra shot him a sympathetic look as she walked out that he was once again found himself thankful for. This time he was in the right state of mind to at least grace her with a small smile in return.

After the duo walked out of the room, the door slid shut once again. Lin took that opportunity to move to the seat the brunette had left vacant and ease herself down onto it.

 _'That isn't a good sign.'_ Noting that his aunt still looked angry, he closed his eyes and sighed. _'I have a feeling this is gonna take a while.'_

* * *

"Thanks again for running the boat this late."

"Not a problem kid." The old, spectacled sailor laughed. Even under the darkness of night, Naruto could see the muscles that rested just beneath his tanned skin. "Besides, I'm pretty sure my grandson would never let me hear the end of it if I didn't help you out."

"Oh yeah? It's Inari, right?"

"Sure is. He practically worships the ground you walk on ever since you took him backstage to watch one of your matches." The man's expression slowly sobered. "I don't think me or my daughter could ever thank you enough for doing that, by the way. I think that was the first time he ever smiled after his dad died."

"Ah, it was no big deal." Naruto waved the man's words off, turning and staring off at the distant mass that was Air Temple Island. "Nothing to thank me for, really. I was always taught to help people whenever I could. Has he been doing alright?"

"Yeah, he's nearly back to his old self nowadays."

"Good." Naruto turned to face the man, a bittersweet smile on his lips. "My grandfather passed around two years ago and we were really close, so I know how hard it can be to bounce back from something like that. The kid must be made of tough stuff if he pulled himself together already."

"He is," the old man said with a smile. "Still, I wouldn't feel right just leaving it like that. I'm a man who pays his debts and my family owes you a big one."

"I really don't need anything." Meeting the man's gaze, Naruto sighed. It was obvious that the issue wasn't going to be dropped. "I'll make you a deal though, what's your name?"

"Tazuna."

"Well then Tazuna, how about we just say you owe me a favor in the future and call it square?"

"…Seems fair enough," the man relented after pondering the idea for a moment. Moving away from the wheel afterwards, he moved towards a nearby rucksack and pulled it open. Standing up after finding what he was looking for, he returned to the wheel holding a large, corked bottle at the neck. "Have a drink with me to seal the deal?"

Still hearing distant echoes of his aunt screaming at him for his previous actions, Naruto smiled. "That sounds perfect right about now."

* * *

"…That's one big ship." Having grown close to the dock that jutted off of the eastern end of Air Temple Island, Naruto eyed the large metal ship that was anchored alongside it.

"It is. Belongs to the White Lotus if memory serves," Tazuna noted as he steered his small sail boat towards the opposite end of the dock. "They dock around once a month or so at the harbor to resupply and trade. Not sure why they're still here though, they usually leave the same afternoon they dock."

 _'Ah, damn. I was hoping I'd at least get to show her a Pro-Bending match before she was shipped off. Maybe I can sweet talk Tenzin into letting her stay long enough to see one or something.'_

"They're here to take Korra back to the South Pole, I think."

"Korra? …That name supposed to ring a bell for me or somethin'?"

"She's the Avatar."

"Oh. Hadn't heard about that yet."

"You wouldn't have." Naruto chuckled. "She only got here earlier today, apparently."

"Ah, gotcha. Well, none of my business anyway." Seemingly happy that they had gotten close enough for his liking, Tazuna walked to the side of the boat and picked up a rope. Tying it into a loose noose, he threw it out at the dock until he hooked one of the posts and pulled them in closer.

Once they were close enough, Naruto walked over to the side of the boat and pulled himself up onto the dock, the wooden boards creaking softly beneath him. "Thanks again for the ride."

Tazuna merely waved off his thanks. "You need me to wait here in case you need a ride back?"

"Nah, I'll probably just bunk here for the night. Besides, if I went back with you, I'd probably be too drunk to get myself home by the time we hit the shore." Though he knew he wasn't drunk just yet, Naruto could feel some heat in his cheeks and was aware enough to know that one or two more drinks would probably push him over the edge.

"You make that sound like a bad thing." Laughing, Tazuna reached up and unhooked the rope before pushing off of the dock with his hands had enough to send his boat away from it. "Take care of yourself, kid."

"You too, old man."

Turning to face the island, Naruto's eyes widened slightly upon spotting a familiar bald figure already approaching him. Behind the man, he could see Korra standing alongside her large Polar Bear Dog.

"Naruto," Tenzin greeted dully as he approached.

"Tenzin." The blond bowed his head slightly as he replied in-kind.

"You're drunk."

"No, I've been drinking. Big difference."

Tenzin let out a harsh-sounding breath through his nose – a sound that betrayed his annoyance. "What are you doing here?"

"Would you believe me if I said meditation practice?"

"No."

"Well that's a little hurtful." Naruto chortled. "How about if I said I was here to make your life miserable for a few days since you abandoned me with my aunt earlier?"

"That...is far more believable, unfortunately." The Airbending master reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I apologize if I made you feel as if you were abandoned, but ensuring that Korra was sent back to the South Pole as soon as possible took precedence over saving you from Lin."

"Ah, I actually wanted to speak to you about that."

"What about it?"

"Did she tell you about how we both ended up in jail?"

"I was told why she was initially pursued by the police, but I didn't particularly care to hear much more than that."

"Ah. Well then, long story short, I trapped her and her pet in a hole while they were running away from the officers. She got arrested for whatever she did and I got dinged on interfering with a police pursuit. We talked on our way to Police Headquarters. She seems pretty nice."

"I still haven't heard a specific point you wanted to talk about."

"I was wondering if you could let her stay in the city long enough to watch a Pro-Bending match. She apparently really wants to see one first-hand and I figure I owe her that much for thinking she was just some sort of everyday crook."

"Absolutely not. She is going back to the South Pole immediately."

"Yeah, about that…" Naruto was undaunted by the previous rejection. "Why are you sending her back, exactly? Having the Avatar in the city could probably help with the whole Equalist problem even more so than the bills you try to get passed through the city council, don't you think?"

"That's exactly why I'm sending her back! The city is on the brink of an uprising as is. Not only could her presence here could make things escalate even further, but it could also put her at serious risk of being hurt!"

"She'll always be at risk of getting hurt here for one reason or another, you know that as well as I do." Naruto sighed. "I honestly think just her being here would help things. Even non-benders typically romanticize the Avatar, so having a face for a bender they don't hate could help calm things down. Besides, if there's one person that can bridge the gap and make peace here, it's probably going to be the Avatar."

Tenzin's brow furrowed deeply in thought as he raised a hand and stroked his goatee.

"Korra!" Simultaneous shouts from overhead drew both Naruto and Tenzin's eyes to the sky. Three young children clad in attire almost identical to Tenzin's own swooped down on gliders towards the teenager in question. Landing, they quickly rushed over and embraced her.

"Seems like her being here could help keep your kids out of your hair for a while too." After a moment, Naruto chuckle and corrected himself. "Well, facial hair in your case, I guess."

"You make some valid points, some of which I had already been considering myself for the past few hours." Tenzin conceded after a moment, his mouth curving upwards at the edges. "I assume you are intending to stay for supper?"

"And to bunk here for the night if it wouldn't be too much trouble."

"Come along then." Turning around, the Airbending master began quickly striding down the dock towards the others. Naruto quickly followed.

"Awww~!"

Hearing the Airbender kids groan in unison, Naruto saw Korra suddenly stand up and move to her Polar Bear Dog before the two of them began moving forward to meet them on the dock. Head and shoulders slumped down, she seemed to radiate sadness as she grew near.

"Hold on for a moment, Korra." At the sound of Tenzin's voice, the teen's head snapped up. Her eyes darted over to the blond for a moment, but mostly remained fixed on her would-be Airbending master. "I have done my best in my father's stead to guide Republic City towards the dream he and the other founders had for it. However, what you said earlier on our way here was right: it has fallen out of balance since his passing."

Korra's entire posture promptly perked up, her eyes widening slightly.

"I believed that I should put off your Airbending training until a later date so that I could continue to uphold his legacy. That is where I was wrong. What we spoke of earlier and what Naruto and I just spoke of a moment ago made me realize that Republic City is not my father's legacy." Reaching forward, he laid a hand on the girl's shoulder. " _You_ are his legacy. So, if you would like to, you may live on Air Temple Island with me and begin your Airbending training."

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Thank you! You're the best!"

"Yay~!"

 _'…I didn't even notice them there,'_ Naruto thought, shooting his gaze down at Jinora, Ikki and Meelo who had all been lurking nearby. _'Those three are surprisingly sneaky when they're quiet.'_

Grinning toothily, Korra swooped down and pulled the kids into an embrace before quickly pulling Tenzin into it as well. Despite the height difference, she managed to easily lift the tall man off of his feet.

"What, no hug for me?" Naruto smirked. "And I came out all the way out here just to talk Tenzin into letting you stay here at least long enough to see a Pro-Bending match. Way to make a guy feel left out."

Letting the others back down to their feet, the brunette turned towards Naruto with her grin still in place and embraced him as well. Feeling her hands hook behind the small of his back, he was lifted off of his feet a moment later.

"Alright Muscles, I officially feel all warm and fuzzy inside." Laughing, Naruto looked down and patted her on the back of the shoulder. "You can put me down now."

"I _could_ do that." Korra's grin turned mischievous as she took a few steps to the side. "Then again, I _could_ get payback for making me and Naga fall earlier."

"…You wouldn't dare."

"Oh yeah? Hope you can swim, city boy." Twisting herself around, she used her momentum to toss Naruto off of the dock.

 _'So that's how it's gonna be, huh?'_ Letting himself fall beneath the surface of the cold water, the blond's lips curved up into a mischievous grin that would have put Korra's to shame. ' _Alright then, let the prank war begin.'_

* * *

 **End**

I've been working on something like twelve different variations of this story over the past year or so. I'm not satisfied with everything in it, but I think it's about as good as it's going to get until I get some feedback.

To those of you who might be concerned about the idea of bending platinum being too strong for various reasons, I intend to address that matter in some dialogue that will happen eventually. For the time being, I'll simply say that it won't be as big of a game changer as you think it might be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Naruto nor The Legend of Korra. This is strictly a work of fanfiction that's being written and published without any intention of making a profit.

 **Author's Notes**

Just a quick note to clarify that there will be only single pairings within this story. Sorry to those of you who are obviously wanting to see it, but while Asami will end up paired with someone, it won't be Naruto and Korra.

* * *

 **You are not Alone**

 **Chapter 2**

* * *

' _Why do you have to be so evil, sun? What have I ever done to you?'_

Having let his eyes drift open just enough to catch a glimpse of the sunlight that beamed through the window of the room he was in, Naruto immediately slammed them shut again. After realizing that the light was bright enough to shine partially through his eyelids, he draped the back of his forearm across his face to block it out. Letting out a deeper-than-normal breath, he shifted his head and found a relatively cool portion of the pillow.

' _I swear, Air Nomads have the best beds. I really wish they had made them like this back home.'_ The blond let another deep breath escape him. _'I could probably go back to sleep for another hour or two. I shouldn't have anything to do until later tonight.'_

As if to spite him, mere moments after the thought crossed his mind, Naruto's ears perked up as he heard the door to his room slowly slide open.

' _So much for that idea. This has to be karma for being a shitty person in a past life or something.'_

The attempt to sneak up on him was a rather valiant effort, truth be told. The perpetrator hardly made any noise when opening the door and their footsteps were as light as a father. Unfortunately, not only had Naruto picked up on what little noise had been made, but his footsteps – light as they may have been – still made vibrations along the floor.

' _Too easy.'_ Hearing the footsteps grow near, Naruto struggled to keep the grin off of his face. _'Just get a little closer…'_

"SNEAK ATTA—"

"BOO!"

"AHH!" Stumbling back in surprise, Meelo managed to stay on his feet for a few steps before falling butt-first onto the hardwood floor with a solid _thump_.

"Nice try, Squirt. Maybe next time."

"How the heck did you know I was gonna sneak attack you? I was super sneaky this time and everything! You're cheating!"

"Maybe I am." Chuckling, Naruto pushed himself up into a sitting position and swung his legs over the bed. Letting his bared feet touched the ground, he almost immediately felt himself relax. Despite the bed being comfortable, it did slightly deprive him of a sense that few people in the world would ever experience in any real depth. "Then again, maybe you just aren't as stealthy as you think you are."

"I am though!" Looking outraged as the accusation, Meelo quickly leapt up to his feet and raised his hands up into what appeared to be some kind of hand sign. "I'm as quiet as a ninja!"

"I don't think any ninja would go around yelling about how quiet they are." Pushing himself up to his feet, Naruto scratched his bared chest and yawned lazily. Reaching out a hand, he rubbed over the young Airbender's shaved scalp. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get the jump on me eventually."

It took a few moments, but eventually Meelo grinned so wide that it forced his eyes shut.

"Your mom and dad awake yet?"

"Yeah. Mommy's sewing with Jinora and Ikki; Daddy's eating breakfast with Korra."

"Really now? And they just left you all to yourself?"

"Uh huh!"

Finally removing his hand from Meelo's scalp, Naruto crouched down until the two of them were nearly at eye-level with one another.

"You wanna know a secret?" At the young Airbender's nod, he continued. "My grandma taught me this really neat trick she knows. When her feet are on the ground, she can use her Earthbending to sense vibrations through it. Even though she was blind, she could actually see more than almost anyone else in the world."

"Whoa…" Meelo's eyes were wide in wonder. "Even more than we can from on top of Oogie?"

"Mhmm." Naruto grinned. "Most people actually know about that part though. What most of them don't realize is that being able to feel vibrations in the ground can let you do some other neat tricks too."

"Really? Like what?"

"Like being able to tell when someone's lying." Spotting how Meelo suddenly looked slightly panicked, Naruto's grin grew another inch. "Pretty neat, huh?"

"Uh…yeah."

"I thought so too. Now, how about we find your mom and see what she thinks about you running around without someone watching over you?"

"…"

"…"

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!" Reaching into one of his pockets, Meelo quickly withdrew a small black ball that easily fit into the palm of his hand. "VANISHING SMOKESCREEN!" Throwing the ball down with seemingly all of the strength that his arm could muster, it burst into a large cloud of grey smoke that almost immediately filled the room.

' _I wonder if he even realizes that I literally just told him I would be able to sense where he's at? Heh, oh well. I guess he'll find out soon enough either way.'_

* * *

' _I wonder what they're having today?'_ Standing before the sliding door that led to the Mess Hall, Naruto took in a deep whiff of air. _'Some kind of soup from the smell of it, I think.'_

Opening the door, Naruto was greeted with a sight that had become a rather common occurrence to him throughout the past year. Several low-sitting tables filled up the room with small, undecorated cushions placed on the floor around each of them. Air Nomads of various ages occupied the spots at many tables, conversing with one another as they ate.

' _Soup. Totally called it._ ' Glancing around, he felt his eyes widen slightly upon noting several men in blue uniforms stations along each wall. _'Geez, I get wanting to keep the Avatar safe and all, but this is a bit much.'_

"Good morning, Naruto." Snapping his head to the left, the blond's eyes fell upon Tenzin and Korra – both of them seated as a nearby table, the former blowing looking at him as he gently on a steaming cup of tea while the latter promptly lowered the top half of the newspaper she was reading to do the same. "You slept well, I trust?"

' _Well enough until your son woke me up.'_

"Well enough," Naruto cut his thoughts off there, shrugging as he walked over to the duo's table and stood over a cushion that was positioned directly across from Korra. "Thanks for letting me stay here, by the way. If it wouldn't be too much trouble though, would you mind if I snagged some grub before I left?"

"Not at all." Smiling kindly, Tenzin gestured towards the two steaming bowls that were placed in the middle of the table. "Please feel free to help yourself."

"Awesome, thanks." Plopping himself down on the cushion beneath him, Naruto reached out and pulled one of the bowls towards him. _'Miso. Sweet, I can work with this.'_

"Hey," Korra spoke up, still peaking over her newspaper as Naruto brought the small bowl to his lips and took a sip. "How good are the Buzzard Wasps?"

"The Pro-Bending Team?"

"Yeah."

Glancing to his side, Naruto saw that Tenzin looked a bit exasperated, but was making no obvious effort to speak up.

"They're pretty bad to be honest. Why?"

"Oh." Seemingly caught a bit off-guard, it took a few moments before Korra replied properly. "It was just…the paper said that the match between them and the Rabbit Leopards was really good."

"Hah! If that's true, then I'm the freaking Avatar." It took a few moments, but upon realizing the irony of using that particular expression in present company, he chuckled heartily.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." Korra sighed. "Everybody thinks they're so funny with that joke."

"Ah, sorry. I honestly didn't even think before I said it." Naruto paused until his chuckles died off. "Anyway, to answer your question, do you remember what I told you yesterday about the Wolfbats cheating in the finals?"

Korra deadpanned. "Kinda hard to forget your first time in handcuffs."

"…You're not going to let me forget about that anytime soon, are you?"

"Not a chance." Despite her words, a small smile pulled at the brunette's lips.

"Heh, fair enough I guess. Well, going back to the Wolfbats thing, there were a lot of people who saw them cheating like I told you before. Regardless of that though, the paper didn't mention anything about it – the only thing they talked about in that issue was about how great the match was."

"Okay…so they just don't mention some of the stuff about the matches then?"

"Whenever it suits them not to. The paper's only job is to hype up the matches, so they'll say whatever they need to in order to make them sound good so that there are more butts in the seats. Naruto quickly tipped back the bowl and swallowed another mouthful of soup before continuing. "Who did you say the Buzzard Wasps were playing against again? The Rabbit Leopards?"

"Yeah." Korra paused for a moment and lowered her nose into the paper to double-check her information. Seemingly finding what she was looking for, she tapped over something with her finger. "Yeah, Wasps vs. Leopards."

"Right. Well, the Rabbit Leopards are Rookies who barely managed to qualify for the League at the start of the year. Out of the three people who were originally on the team, only the Firebender still plays; the other two quit because of personal drama from what I've heard. Not only are the people that replaced those two pretty bad at Pro-Bending, but now the three of them have almost teamwork to speak of. I think they've got something like two wins under their belt for the entire season. The Buzzard Wasps aren't much better when it comes to the bending skills, but the same three guys have been working on that team together for years and their teamwork is really good. If I had to guess, I'd say that match was probably a first round knockout."

"Really? You think it was over that quick?"

"Mhmm."

"Wouldn't people figure out the paper wasn't telling the truth though? I mean, wouldn't it be obvious they lied if people saw some of the matches in person?"

"Yup. A lot of people have picked up on it already, but a lot of other folks in the city can't afford to see games on a regular basis, so they can't realize the paper lies a lot. Tickets are a bit on the pricy side."

"How pricy, exactly?"

"Depends." Naruto took a big drink of his soup. "Front-row seats will probably run you something like ten-thousand Yuans, but seats in the back will probably only run around a thousand or so. It's still pretty steep to ask from most people, but definitely a lot more reasonable."

"Yuans?" Korra looked confounded. "What are Yuans?"

Naruto blinked a few times in surprise before slowly turning his gaze to Tenzin. "You guys didn't even teach her that much? Seriously?"

"We believed it would be best for Korra to master the four elements prior to learning about the various dynamics of the world." To his credit, Tenzin looked sheepish despite attempting to defend himself. "In hindsight, I now see we should have at least taught her about some of the more basic matters."

"You think?" Scoffing, Naruto drew in a calming breath and met Korra's gaze again. "Yuans are basically like gold, silver and copper pieces that only work in Republic City. One gold piece is around one-thousand Yuans."

"Oh." Korra's brow furrowed slightly before her head cocked slightly to the side. "Why would they make something like that? Wouldn't it be easier just to keep using gold, silver and copper? It's kind of silly to make entirely different money, isn't it?"

' _Ugh. Of course she would ask that.'_ For a brief moment, Naruto could've sworn he heard his mother's smug-sounding voice echoing faintly in the back of his mind. _'Mom would try to bury me under a pile of books if she knew that I didn't remember why they made a whole new system of currency.'_

"That would probably be something to ask tall, bald and windy over there." Jerking his head towards Tenzin, the blond pointedly ignored the noise the offended noise the man made. "I was never really good at learning and remembering stuff like that."

Korra turned to her Airbending Master expectantly.

"It's a rather complicated economic matter that I will teach you about sometime in the future. I'm afraid your training schedule is already rather full and I wouldn't want to overburden you right away."

"Oh yeah, you two are doing Airbending stuff today, aren't you?" Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw the brunette grin.

"I intend to begin instructing Korra on the basics of Airbending, yes. Why do you ask?"

Naruto shrugged. "I have a Pro-Bending match tonight. I was gonna ask if she'd be free to come and watch if she felt up for it."

Tenzin's brow furrowed deeply. "You know I detest that… _sport_."

"Heh, yeah, you've made that clear enough. Korra, on the other hand, seems to like the idea behind it. Don't you think she at least deserves the chance to see it for herself and make her own judgement?"

"If that were the only factor, then I would not only allow her to go, but I would fully encourage it." Tenzin took in a deep breath and exhaled it sharply through his nose. "However, not only might it cause her to become lax in her Airbending lessons, but her safety among such a large crowd is a serious concern."

"What?!" I'm not some helpless kid, Tenzin! I can protect myself!"

"I'm not saying you can't, Korra. I know you're fully capable of defending yourself, but not every threat is something you will simply be able to overcome with your bending."

"Look," Naruto rose his voice slightly to interrupt any potential argument between the two before it truly had a chance to begin. "If she wants to see a match, I'll be right next to her practically the whole time. Even when I'm not, the stadium's security would keep anyone that isn't a Pro-Bender from getting into the locker rooms where she'd be watching the matches from. I guarantee you that she'd be completely safe. Besides, I'm probably better security than most of the White Lotus guards here, so her safety shouldn't really be in question here. When it comes to her lessons, I don't think her slacking will be a problem either. I could tell just how excited she was when you mentioned teaching her the basics."

A tense silence filled the air, the soft noise of the conversations the other Air Nomads in the room were having with one another having long since ceased as they listened in. Tenzin's expression and posture remained firm, but his eyes were closed in thought. As the seconds ticked by, his shoulders slowly sagged in defeat.

"After tonight, when is your next match?"

"Tomorrow. The tournament starts next week, so there are going to be a lot of games played throughout the next few days."

Tenzin nodded, raising a hand and running it along his goatee. "Very well. Given that I have a press conference scheduled for Korra a bit later today and I intend to drill her in the fundamental Airbending stances after that has finished, I'm afraid she will still be preoccupied by the time the matches are due to begin. However," he emphasized the word strongly, interrupting the brunette and turning towards her before she could speak up. "Tomorrow she should be free by mid-afternoon if you two wish to make plans."

"Awesome! So Korra, would you l—"

"Hell yeah!"

"Language!"

"Oh. Uh, sorry…" The grin on Korra's face betrayed her true feelings on the matter despite her apology.

"So then, could you be ready by five-ish tomorrow afternoon?"

"Definitely!" Turning to face him, Korra's grin grew another inch and she seemed to practically shake with excitement. "I can't wait!"

"Well I don't think I can help you any more than I have, so you'll have to find a way to manage until then. Sorry." Chuckling, Naruto tipped his bowl up again and drained what little liquid had remained. "It's probably best this way, truth be told," he continued as he placed the bowl down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "The match tonight will almost definitely be a first round knockout, but the one tomorrow should be a lot better."

"What teams are you playing?"

Pushing himself up to his feet, Naruto arched his back until it popped. "We play the Riding Rhinos tonight and the Fire Ferrets tomorrow." Turning towards Tenzin, he bowed at the hips. "Thanks again for everything. Sorry if I ruined your morning."

Despite the fact that his mood had quite clearly been soured slightly, the aged Airbending master smiled. "You have nothing to apologize for. You're welcome at my home and table anytime you wish to be here, you know that."

"I know," Naruto grinned. Out of habit, he reached up and scratched along the back of his head. "I'll try to stop by a little more often than I have been lately. Teuchi gave me some time off, so I'm a bit less busy nowadays."

"That's probably for the best if you wish to make any progress with your meditation."

"Ugh! Naruto's entire posture suddenly sagged. "You just had to go and ruin a perfectly alright morning for me, didn't you?" Shaking his head before the man could respond, he sighed and offered a lazy wave to the duo before turning towards the entrance of the Mess Hall. "I'll talk to you guys sometime tomorrow."

* * *

"Seriously?"

"Uh huh."

"…No way, I'm not buyin' it."

Naruto scoffed and tucked his helmet into his armpit. Using his free limb, he closed and locked the full-sized locker in front of him. In lieu of his standard attire, he was clad in a padded leather uniform that covered nearly every inch of his body save only his head. The leather was primarily dyed black, but the knee and elbow pads were a bright orange that contrasted harshly with the dark color and a blossoming lotus flower was embroidered into the back in silver thread. As was required of all Pro-Bending Earthbenders, a simple green sash was tied into a firm knot around his waist.

"Is that because you genuinely don't believe it or because you're too broke to afford literally anything?"

"Ouch. Low-blow, man." Despite his words, the green-eyed, dark-haired teen didn't look offended in the least. "Me and Mako might not be able to buy a lot of things, but you accidentally bumping into the Avatar the first day she's here? Heh, that's a steep sale to anybody."

"C'mon Bo, you're supposed to take me at my word on things like this. Best bud rules, remember?"

"I do, I do," Bolin waved him off. Clad in a similarly designed uniform that was dyed red and white instead of black and orange, he sighed as he leaned back on the bench he was seated on. "So you really met her then?"

"Yes! Do you really think I'd lie about something like that?!"

"Well…there was that one time you said you met Zuko face-to-face."

"Totally different thing. Besides, I was lying to your brother, not to you. You just happened to be there and take me at my word."

"Uh huh. Well what about when you said Teuchi started serving dumplings?"

"Doesn't count. I only said that so you would agree to eat there and we could have ramen. Sacrifices must be made in order to appease the Ramen Gods, my friend."

"Right. Okay, well what about that time you tried hooking me up with a fan who was totally into me and it ended up being a guy?"

"…Didn't we agree to never speak about that again?"

Bolin paused for a moment before a fierce shudder ran through his body and his face turned slightly green. "Fair point, forget I mentioned that one."

"Already happily forgotten." Lifting up his helmet, Naruto slipped it down over his head. "I look good?"

"Yeah. Well, as good as you can hope to, anyway. There's no way you can compare to all this." Bolin gestured over his entire body, but focused mostly on his face.

"Ah. What can I say?" Naruto shrugged. "Some of us are attractive and some of us aren't. You just got the short end of the stick."

"I know." Bolin leaned back and sighed wistfully. "I guess I'll just have to find a way to live with being this ruggedly handsome."

"Heh, you do that."

 _DING DING!_

An almost deafening roar echoed through the room, though it was somewhat muffled thanks to the thick stone walls that surrounded them. Shortly thereafter, a loud, basey murmur began echoing through the room at regular intervals.

"Man, I can't wait to get an actual locker room of our own next year. Getting to see the matches from the group ones facing the arena is nice, but it's so awkward changing in front of people you don't know. Not to mention how insanely loud it is."

"Heh, yeah, I definitely don't miss the changing part – especially if the Wolfbats are in there and being dicks like usual. Still…" Naruto trailed off for a moment and smiled as the dull roar of the crowd echoed through the room again. "I kind of miss being out there and hearing the crowd even while I'm getting changed. It's a little invigorating, y'know?"

"Huh…I never thought about it like that." Bolin paused, brought a hand up to his chin and idly scratched it. "I guess I can see where you're coming from though."

 _Knock Knock_

The door to the room promptly opened. Glancing over, Naruto spotted Sasuke and an all-too-familiar pink-haired girl both clad in uniforms nearly identical to his own. The only substantial difference were the different patterns embroidered into their backs.

"Hey lovebirds!"

Not terribly long ago, Naruto would've felt rather peeved at hearing Bolin address the duo as such. Thankfully, however, enough time had passed that it no longer bothered him.

"Sasuke," he greeted with a lazy wave. "Sakura."

"Hn."

"Hey you two." The genuine warmth in Sakura's greeting and the smile she gave them contrasted harshly with how Sasuke all but ignored them. "You ready to go?"

"Yup, I was just putting on the finishing touches." Turning, Naruto eyed his best friend. "You gonna come watch or are you gonna call it a night and turn in?"

"I'm comin, I'm comin'. Yeesh, cut an injured guy a little slack, would you?" Bolin pushed himself off of the bench with a grunt of exertion, his left arm immediately shooting down and resting over his abdomen.

"What happened?" Sakura immediately took a few steps in the room, the tone of her voice conveying just how concerned she was. "Are you alright? You aren't hurt too badly, are you?"

"Nah, this is practically nothing!" Bolin laughed, but immediately winced after starting to do so. "Chen managed to clip me pretty good with a disc in my match earlier is all. I'll be fine."

"Heh, hopefully that'll teach you to not trust Hasook to watch your back. I swear, I still don't know how you and Mako managed to carry him this far."

"He's not that bad most of the time."

"Yes he is."

"Uh…right. Maybe he is, I guess." Bolin looked uncomfortable in admitting that, but against everyone else's unified voice, he seemed to at least genuinely concede the point. "Still, I don't think we would've gotten this far without him." Glancing around, he grinned boyishly. "Or without you guys, of course."

Naruto reached over and clapped his fellow Earthbender's shoulder pad. "You know it was no big deal. Besides, it's fun having some actual competition this year, right guys?"

"Mhmm!"

"Speak for yourself. I could take the thug with one arm tied behind my back." Despite his words, Sasuke had a small smirk stretched across his lips.

Naruto and Bolin met each other's gaze and rolled their eyes. "Whatever you say," they chorused. It was almost to the level of a running gag that their team's Firebenders would insult one another despite the begrudging respect they clearly had for one another.

"Hey." A new voice drew everyone's attention to the door. Standing there was a short, mousey-looking man with spiky grey hair. He was clad in standard attire for a Pro-Bending referee and looked to be rather nervous. Then again, he always looked rather nervous when he had to encounter any member of Team Seven by his lonesome nowadays. "Y-You guys are u-up next."

Nothing but four rather intense stares were given in response. It was enough to make him start to sweat rather intensely.

"H-Hey, did you gu—"

"We heard you. You just aren't worth the breath it would take to respond." Sasuke's voice was as ice-cold as his stare. "Leave."

The referee seemed quite happy to scurry away and, after a brief stumble at the door, did so at a rather impressive speed.

"Heh, nice to know that personality of yours is actually good for something after all." Naruto smirked. "I knew Sakura must have seem something decent in you."

"Hn." Sasuke shook his head and turned towards the hall, seemingly not willing to properly respond to the blond's jab at him. "Are you guys coming or what? We're going to be late at this rate."

' _I really hate it when he does that.'_

"Ah, Sasuke! Wait for me!" Sakura promptly turned and ran out of the room after him.

"Hey," Naruto felt a bump on his shoulder pad. Glancing over, he saw Bolin pinning him with a concerned look. "You alright?"

"I'm fine. Like I said last week, I've been over her for a while now." The blond felt himself smile. "Thanks though, I appreciate it."

"I remember what you said, just wanted to make sure you're holding up okay is all." Bolin raised his hand and audibly clapped the shoulder pad. "Best bud rules, remember?"

"Heh, yeah. I remember."

* * *

 **Korra**

Seated atop the roof of a small building that Tenzin had permitted her White Lotus guards to use for their own purposes, Korra's gaze rested firmly upon the large, brightly lit stadium across the waters of the Republic City Harbor. She paid little mind to the voice bickering beneath her, choosing instead to drown them out and paint a mental of what was potentially going on within the stadium.

' _Listening to theses matches just makes me want to see one that much more. I'm glad Tenzin agreed to let me actually go to one tomorrow or I might have just snuck out.'_ Thoughts of what had happened earlier that day made her grin. _'I'm seriously gonna have to thank Blondie for everything the next time I see him.'_

"I'm telling you, Mako takes Sasuke any day of the week. It isn't even a contest!"

"There isn't any contest, I agree. But Mako would get his ass handed to him from here to the South Pole!"

"Pft! In your dreams, maybe!"

"In my dreams?! Sasuke showed Mako the ropes – the paper even confirmed it! What world do you live in where the Ferrets beat Team Seven?!"

"Oh, I don't know, the one where students surpass masters all the time? Besides, I never said the Ferrets would win in a fight against Team Seven. I only said Mako would get the better of Sasuke."

"You are so full of crap that it's almost unbelievable."

"Says the guy who honestly thought the Wolfbats won the championship last year fair and square."

"I was sitting at a different angle, dammit! I didn't see the same things you guys all did!"

' _I really wish those guys would quiet down already.'_ Korra sighed. They had been bickering just as intensely when the radio had cut to something called a commercial break several minutes ago. It was one of the big reasons she had tried to drown them out, truth be told. Before that, they had given her some insight as to what level of skill the various teams that played were at which was rather useful.

Suddenly, the rather soft voice that had been coming through the radio cut out. Loud static was the only noise received for a moment before it cut again – this time to loud, uncoordinated cheering. The sound of so many people being so excited about bending not only made Korra grin again, but it made her heart race in her chest in a way she hadn't felt since she was first allowed to spar with other benders.

" _ **Welcome back ladies and gentlemen to night twenty-eight of the Pro-Bending League. As I'm sure you can hear from the sound of the crowd, we have had one slobber-knocker after another throughout the entirety of this evening."**_

" _ **Go wolfbats! Woooooooooooo~!"**_

" _ **Go Wolfbats indeed, random guy! For those just tuning in or who otherwise missed the broadcast of our previous match, the reigning champs absolutely decimated the local Sparrow Eagles in a round one knockout. Far be it from me to make any predictions, but it's rather clear that our champs are in tip-top shape and ready for the League Tournament to officially begin. However, there's little doubt they'll need to be at their best in order to come out on top once again – something I think our final match for the evening is about to show us. Let's find out together, shall we folks? Are you ready for the main event?!"**_

The crowd cheered, some yelling while others whistled, clapped, stomped their feet or presumably performed any combination of the aforementioned actions.

" _ **I don't think our listeners could hear you! I said: ARE. YOU. READY?!"**_

If the crowd had cheered before, now they absolutely roared. The responding yells and other forms of cheering were so loud that Korra nearly had to cover her ears until one of the White Lotus guards turned down the volume of the radio.

' _That's so crazy! If it's that loud on the radio, I wonder what it's like in the stadium?'_

" _ **That's more like it! Well then, since you're all ready, leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet's get ready to rumble~!"**_

' _How in the heck can he scream like that before practically every match? Spirits, my voice would be gone before the night was halfway over.'_ Once her curiosity passed, Korra's ears perked up slightly as some people in the crowd began to chant something. Before she could actually decipher what it was though, the announcer's voice overpowered the voices of the others.

" _ **Introducing first, the challengers: The Riding Rhinos~!"**_ As if on cue, the sound of two lutes being strummed in unison came through the radio.

' _This is different. I guess they play music for the main events or something?'_ As it continued on, Korra found herself bobbing her head from side to side in tune with the rhythm. _'It's kind of nice, actually. I like it."_

The crowd cheered and applauded, though even with the music playing over their reactions, it was clear that it paled in comparison to the volume from just before the entrances had begun. Throughout the entire period of time the lutes were playing, Korra heard the chant from before growing louder and louder. Before long, she could make out the one word they were saying together even through the sound of the instruments.

" _ **Bei-fong…Bei-fong…Bei-fong...Bei-fong...BEI-FONG...BEI-FONG!"**_

" _ **Well, I don't think there's any question of the crowd favorite here folks!"**_ The announcer laughed. Even after the lutes finally stopped, he had to raise his voice slightly to be heard as the crowd's chanting grew louder and louder. _**"Let's bring in the golden boy and his team, shall we? Introducing last year's runner up, Republic City's own Team Seven~!"**_

The crowd went crazy, but loud, rhythmic drumbeats quickly muffled their cheers to a degree. Occasionally though, a voice that was far louder than usual would make a grunt-like noise in-time with the drumbeat. After three or four of the odd-sounding noises, what sounded like a bamboo flute suddenly joined into the mix.

' _What in the world is this?'_ Korra grinned, suddenly feeling a thrill shoot through her. _'It sounds amazing!'_ Mere moments after that thought crossed her mind, yet another instrument – one that sounded like nothing she had ever heard before – joined into the mix. The crowd's cheering increased notably in volume as it did, leading her to think that something probably happened in the stadium at that point. The music lasted for another minute or so before it finally quieted down. Even after it had finished, the crowd was still chanting the Beifong name, but significantly fewer people were likely doing so based on how loud it came across.

" _ **Yet another unforgettable entrance by Team Seven to the main event! I tell ya folks, the guy they get to make their music is gonna be one busy fella after this year. You simply have to be here in person to get the full experience – I promise it's worth the Yuans."**_ He paused for a moment before continuing. _**"As is tradition, our teams meet in the center and exchange bows with one another. Respectful bows all around this time, thankfully. They're turning back and walking to their designated zones, but Mister Beifong lingers behind as usual to pay his respects to the statue of his grandfather.'**_

' _Statue of his grandfather? Huh, I wonder who he was.'_

" _ **Ah, it appears he has finished now as he walks towards his starting position. Nothing fancy today it seems, both teams running the standard layout of an Earthbender in the referee is waiting for the final go-ahead signal before the match begins. We should be getting started just about any moment now."**_

 _ **DING DING**_

" _ **The bell rings and both teams come out swinging hard! Team Seven falls back into their standard strategy of having Beifong primarily focus on defense while Uchiha and Haruno pick off the other team one-by-one. The Rhinos look to be…well…this announcer isn't sure they even have a team strategy, folks. They look to be targeting Haruno first much like virtually every other team, but otherwise they seem as if they— Oh man! Beifong suddenly swings out with a low, offensive disc and sweeps Lock right off his feet! Haruno hammers him back with a blast of water he goes rolling right off of the arena and into the drink below! The Rhinos are already a man down almost right after the starting bell!"**_

' _Yes!'_ Korra pumped both of her fists. _'Come on first round knockout!'_

" _ **I'm not sure the Rhinos can come back against this team with a man down so early, but it certainly won't be from a lack of effort! Page is tucked in tight against the robes and using small blasts of her Firebending to keep herself from getting hit while Biggs is in the middle of the zone using discs to block everything coming his way. They're definitely aiming to best Team Seven on stamina, but you folks likely know as well as I do that – Oooh, Uchiha breaks Biggs' disc with a burst of flame and Haruno nails him in the gut to send him sliding back into his own zone two! Beifong isn't idle either, he's ruthlessly hammering away on Page's defense with disc after disc. Those suckers are flying so fast that I reckon our lovely police force would have some choice words to share with them!"**_

' _Come on Naruto, you're the only guy I know to root for. Kick their asses!'_

" _ **Unless my eyes are deceiving me, Biggs looks to be sliding slowly back towards zone three. Say what you will about the Rhino's League record, but he is one tough son of a gun. He just might be able to hold off against Haruno and Uchiha unless PAGE IS DOWN! BEIFONG BOUNCES A DISC OFF THE ROPES AND SWEEPS RIGHT HER OFF HER FEET!'**_

' _Yes! Come on, you guys can do it!'_

" _ **Team Seven capitalizes and slams here with the bending trifecta! Hopefully she's thirsty if she decided to travel that far for a drink!"**_ He paused for a brief moment. _**"Biggs is still standing and seemingly used the time he was given thanks to Page to move back up to the front of zone two, but you have to wonder if he has it in him to pull back from this. The buzzer sounds and allows Beifong and crew to move into the Rhinos' zone one. Beifong is shouting something at his teammates as they move forward and…yes, they seem to be moving off to the far right. It seems they're going to go for the classic pincer play. Play is resuming now and Biggs is immediately put back on the defensive. He's being hammered hard from both sides and – ouch! A disc slipped through his guard and hit him in the ribs! Even with the padding, that has got to sting like the dickens! He's obviously feeling it, but he's gritting his teeth and doing his best to weather the storm that is Team Seven's offense. Ah, and there it is – the ref calls that he has slipped back into zone three. Biggs moves back as Team Seven moves forward yet again. Have your ears open, because I think the fat lady is about to be singing."**_

Korra nearly bounced with excitement. Clenching her fists, she practically slammed the bottoms of them into the top of her thighs.

" _ **Play is resumed yet again for what is quite likely the final time this evening. Biggs is obviously hurting and looks to be quite winded while Team Seven look as if they're just getting started. With still over a minute to go in the round, the bending trifecta is hammering on the big guy's defense. Haruno clips him in the side with another water blast and Uchiha tries to finish him off with a flurry of fiery fists to no avail! Biggs managed to ward them off BUT LETS ANOTHER DISC SLIP BY FROM BEIFONG AND CLIP HIM IN THE LEG. HE'S LEANING HEAVILY TO THE SIDE NOW AND ANOTHER DISC HITS HIM HARD! HE'S STAGGERING BACK, TEETERING ON THE EDGE OF THE ARENA. HE'S STRUGGLING TO STAY ON, REELING HIS ARMS TO STAY BALANCED, BUT A FINAL SHOT OF WATER FROM HARUNO SEALS THE DEAL AND SENDS HIM OVER THE EDGE! THAT'S THE MATCH! TEAM SEVEN COMES OUT ON TOP YET AGAIN!"**_

"Yes! Woohoo~!" Korra pumped her arms fully up into the air, a toothy grin stretching as widely as it could over her face. It was probably fortunate that the radio and the cheers of the guards below her drowned out her voice lest she be caught and unable to do this again in the future. Laughing softly at herself, she let her torso fall back against the roof, clenching the surface with her legs so she wouldn't risk falling off. Letting her gaze wander, it lingered on the stars for a few moments before it slowly turned back towards the Pro-Bending Stadium.

' _I seriously can't wait until tomorrow. Even if I have to go through those stupid gates again, it'd be totally worth it to see a match.'_ Closing her eyes, she let her mind wander about what exactly she might see. _'I'm definitely gonna have to find a way to thank Naruto for all this.'_

* * *

 **End Chapter 2**

* * *

 **Post-Notes**

If you didn't pick it up within the chapter, I'm playing a bit fast and loose with the timeline. Here, Korra had her press conference and went through the Airbending gates on the same day – her first full day in Republic City. I will likely treat other relatively minor events in a similar manner. Major events should be spaced out fairly accurately.

I modeled several things that Korra heard through the radio during the Pro-Bending matches after professional wrestling. I thought most of them were fitting, so they will likely continue to occur through the first season while the Pro-Bending League and tournament are going on.

Team Seven's entrance song was the Naruto Main Theme from the first OST. If you want to hear it, you should be able to find it pretty easily on Youtube. The 'weird instrument' I spoke of was the guitar.

Pro-Bending matches will eventually occur in first-person perspective, I simply wanted to give the first one from Korra's perspective while she's listening to the radio since that's how you're first introduced to it in the show.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Naruto nor The Legend of Korra. This is strictly a work of fanfiction that's being written and published without any intention of making a profit.

 **Author's Notes**

This is a short chapter because reasons; I'll spare you all the wall of text that typically accompanies that statement in an attempt to explain the situation. Hope you enjoy what's here.

* * *

 **You are not Alone**

 **Chapter 3**

* * *

Opening his eyes, Naruto was immediately graced with a view of a clear blue sky. Brow furrowing in thought, he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position only to frown immediately at the sight before him. Five large clusters of buildings spread throughout the valley beneath him rested within large plates of metal that were fanned out to make it look as if they were blossoming lotus flowers; one significantly larger version of the clusters rested within the approximate center of them all. The valley itself was surrounded by tall mountains on all sides and had two crystal-clear rivers cutting through its grassy terrain. Sunlight beamed off of the metal surfaces of the large buildings in such a way that, when coupled with the natural landscape, would leave even a pessimist wide-eyed in wonder at the beauty of the place.

' _This dream again, huh?'_ Despite the gentle breeze that he felt kiss his skin, his frown remained. _'I really thought I was over this.'_

After letting his gaze little a little longer on the sight of his home, Naruto slowly worked up the will and turned himself around. Despite the beauty of Zaofu and the nature that surrounded it, they were not capable of turning all things into a sight of wonder. The dozens of tombstones the blond now faced squashed that idea quite profoundly.

' _Might as well get this over with.'_

Moving forward, he stepped towards the cemetery that had been constructed along the slightly sloped surface. It was purposely shaped to slope upwards in such a way that, in theory, every spirit buried there would be able to have a clear view over most of the valley if they persisted after a person's death. A bit morbid of an idea, certainly, but also quite thoughtful in the grand scheme of things. Few cities throughout the world are as kind to the citizens that dwelled within them as Zaofu.

As if it was routine, Naruto quickly progressed to the first grave on his right in the second row. The tombstone looked identical to the others, but it meant far more to him than any of the others likely ever would. Squatting down, he slowly reached out and brushed dirt and other build-up away from words that had been carved by his own hand into the stone.

 _Hiruzen Sarutobi_

" _The Will of Fire burns within us all."_

Slowly running his fingers over the rough edges of the engraving, a bittersweet smile pulled at his lips. _'I miss you, Gramps. I could really use some of your old rambling right about now.'_

Standing up, Naruto made his way over to the tombstone to his immediate right, squatted down and repeated the same process. Unlike the last one, however, a mix of various emotions welled up within his gut and his smile promptly faded away. Gratitude and love were what he knew he should feel, but he couldn't completely rid himself of uneasiness and fear at what he knew was coming. Once he rubbed off the last of the dirt, he ran his fingers over the lettering much like he had for his grandfather's tombstone.

 _Biwako Sarutobi_

" _T_ _he best way to work through one's own problems is oftentimes to help someone else with theirs_ _."_

' _What would have thought of me, I wonder?'_ Curiosity getting the better of him, his mind wandered as his fingers continued tracing along the engraving. _'I think you would be proud of me. I know I'm not a cop or anything, but I think that I protect a lot of people in my own weird sort of way. I hope that's enough for you and the others to rest peacefully despite what happened.'_

After a few seconds ticked by, Naruto's ears twitched as he heard the soft patter of footsteps directly behind him. Swallowing thickly, he took in a deep breath and stood up to his full height. _'Stay calm,'_ he told himself. _'It's just a dream. Nothing can hurt you here.'_

Not wanting to aggravate the entity behind him, he slowly turned around and let his gaze dip down a ways. Standing before him was what looked to be a transparent old woman whose entire body – clothes included – was some shade of light blue. Clad in a rather simple-looking robe, she was short and had her hair tied back into a long ponytail. It was her face, however, that truly gave Naruto goosebumps.

…Or rather her lack of one.

The woman had no eyes, no nose nor any mouth to speak of. Instead of an old woman's face as one would expect to see, there was only smooth, flawless-looking skin.

' _Geh! That crap is just as creepy as ever!'_

"H-Hello," Naruto greeted, thankfully able to keep his true thoughts on the matter purely internal save for his small stutter. The woman tilted her head up slightly in response. "Can you understand me?"

"…"

"Can you hear me at all, at least? Anything?"

"…"

"Of course not." Naruto sighed. "Well I gu—"

Suddenly, the faceless woman reached out and gripped his right arm tightly. Jerkily, her head moved up and down a few inches.

"You…you can actually hear me?" Her head jerkily moved up and down a few times again, making the blond's eyes go wide. "You can understand me?" Another jerky nod. "B-Biwako. Is your name Biwako?!"

Feeling a sharp pain along his right forearm, Naruto winced and sucked in air through his teeth. Glancing down to the limb briefly, he saw that her nails had dug into his skin enough to draw a steady stream of blood.

The scene suddenly vanished as Naruto's eyes shot open and he found himself staring up at his wooden ceiling. Quickly sitting up, he could feel cold beads of sweat dripping down his bared chest even as he tried to calm his racing heart.

' _That…that was new.'_ Reaching over, he rubbed over his right forearm with his left hand. The fact that his skin was unblemished brought him at least a small measure of relief. _'Here's hoping I don't start getting those every night again.'_

 _Knock Knock Knock!_

Immediately after the sounds echoed through the room, Naruto's ears perked up as he heard the door to his apartment creak open. "Hey, it's me! Here's hoping you've got pants on 'cuz I'm coming in!"

Despite what he had just experienced, a hint of a smile pulled at Naruto's face. The much-welcomed familiar voice did wonders to calm him down. "Didn't anyone teach you that it's rude to just walk into somebody's place?"

"Hey, you're the one that told me to just walk in whenever I felt like it." Bolin said as he walked far enough into the apartment that he was in Naruto's line of sight. He was holding a small plastic bag and, as per the usual, Pabu was perched atop his shoulder. "You just waking up or something?

"Yep." Yawning, Naruto raised his hands up to his eyes and rubbed over them. "Did you bring the stuff I asked you about?"

"Hehehe." Bolin's snickering sounded almost uncharacteristically mischievous. "Oh yeah, I brought the stuff." He lifted up the bag looped around his wrist and jostled it about slightly. "I'm good to go whenever you are."

"Might as well get it over with." Naruto sighed and looked up to his eager-looking friend. "Where do you want me?"

* * *

"…How much longer do I have to sit still?"

"Do not rush the _artist!_ Perfection takes time!"

Naruto deadpanned, staring at Bolin whom was seated in a cushioned chair on the opposite end of a small, low-sitting coffee table. Along with his usual double-breasted green tunic, loose, dark-green trousers and knee-high boots, he had an odd, red hat tilted to cover only part of his scalp and a fake, pencil-thin moustache stuck to his upper-lip. Looking down at the clipboard propped up on his thigh, he was running a fancy-looking black pen over the paper that it held in quick, well-practiced strokes.

"Really Bo?" Receiving no response, Naruto sighed. "Look, I know you get serious when you bust out the hat bu—"

"Beret."

"…Right. The beret." Naruto rolled his eyes. "But can't you at least give me a time frame here? Pabu's really starting to make my neck itch." As if able to comprehend the blond's words, the tail of the small fire ferret draped around the back of his neck rose up and harmlessly smacked his cheek.

"You're the one that wanted a good picture." Bolin glanced up at him for a moment, but it was clearly just to reference something judging by how quickly he returned his eyes down to the paper.

"Yeah, that's why I asked you to do it. Come on, we both know even your bad stuff is pretty fantastic. My brother would probably be willing to do anything to be half as good as you are."

"The artsy one?"

"Huan, yeah." Naruto chuckled. "Seriously, you wouldn't believe how bad some of his stuff was when I left."

"He could've gotten better by now." Bolin finally looked away from his work, removing his pen from the board and idly spinning through his fingers.

"Heh, somehow I seriously doubt that."

"You never know. When Mako first got me some paper and pencils for my birthday when I was younger, all I drew were little stick figure guys beating beach other up." Grinning, the dark-haired teen raised the clipboard off of his thigh and turned it around. "Now I can do stuff like this pretty easily."

Despite having seen his friend's various artwork countless times now, Naruto's eyes went wide. Upon the piece of once-blank paper was, as far as he could tell, a flawless recreation of himself seated on his couch with Pabu draped over his neck. Despite the fact that it looked as if there were hundreds of individual lines – particularly to create the look of his hair and Pabu's fur – not a single one looked to be out of place.

' _Mom will probably love it.'_

"It looks great! Is it done?"

"Eh, it's done enough for me to be happy with it." Bolin leaned down and placed the clipboard on the table, the ink on the paper clearly still drying. Raising his hand up, he pulled the beret off of his scalp and slowly peeled off the fake moustache before raising both of his arms in the air and stretching. "How much time did that kill?"

"Two hours or so."

"Ugh, only that much? Seriously?"

"Seriously." Naruto cocked a brow upward. "Looking forward to our match tonight that much, are you?"

"You know it!" Bolin grinned and pumped a fist in front of his face. "Tonight's gonna be the night we finally kick your guys' butts!"

"Heh. You think so, huh?"

"Definitely!"

"Well, at least lack of confidence won't be a problem." Naruto chuckled and, likely due to irritation at said action, Pabu took the opportunity to hop down from his shoulders and scurry over to his owner. "Still, you have awfully high expectations for a guy that just got hurt last night because your Waterbender sucks."

"Aw c'mon, Hasook's not _that_ bad." Parroting his argument from the previous night, Bolin leaned down, picked up his pet and placed him in his lap. Pabu quickly spun around a few times before curling up into a ball there, seemingly content to doze off. "Last night was just a fluke. Besides, I'm fine!"

"Only because Sakura insisted she take a look at you after our match was over. Your entire gut would have probably been horribly bruised if she didn't do her the glowy water thing."

"That woman _does_ do wonders with that glowy water of hers."

"I don't doubt it, but you shouldn't have needed it in the first place. If Hasook had just covered your right flank like he should've instead of pressing an attack, you wouldn't have taken a major hit throughout the entire match."

"It was only one disc man, it isn't a huge deal." Bolin waved off the blond's words with one hand while his other stroked along Pabu's back. "Mistakes happen."

"Obviously they happen, but it isn't just the one mistake with him." Naruto sighed, raised a hand up to his face and ran his index finger and thumb along the bridge of his nose. "Come on man, you know I wouldn't lay into him like this if he didn't deserve it. There's a reason Sakura doesn't train one-on-one with him anymore."

"I thought it was just because she was busy with the whole healer thing?"

"She's busy, but not _that_ busy. She could make time if she really wanted to, but she doesn't bother because he either never shows up, starts being a complete ass or just doesn't listen to anything she tries to say."

"Really?" Bolin's eyes were wide with genuine surprise.

"Yes, really."

"…Why didn't you say anything until now?"

"It's Sakura that has personal problems with the guy, not me, so their one-on-one stuff is really none of my business. Unless she asked me to say something to you guys or his shitty attitude caused a problem in our scrims, it really wasn't my place to say anything about him one way or the other." Naruto shrugged. "The only reason I bring it up now is because his performance is finally causing you guys some serious problems in the arena. He's stagnating in skill – maybe even getting worse."

Bolin was silent for a while before he let himself lean back fully into the chair he was seated in and heaved out a deep sigh. "Even if I agree, it isn't like we can do anything about it. There's no way we could find another Waterbender who isn't already on a team that we could train up to be just as good or better than Hasook by the time the tournament starts."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Really? Because I'm sure pulling a big, fat blank on names here."

"Well…" Naruto leaned back much like Bolin had, stretching his arms atop the back of his couch. "I have an idea about a possible replacement, but I'm not completely sure it would work."

"Were they on one of the teams that didn't qualify for the league or something?"

"No, no. Nothing like that." Naruto lazily waved off the question before bringing his hand up to his chin and rubbing along the small amount of stubble that was there. "I'm just not sure whether or not Korra would get the okay to actually be on a team or not."

"…"

"…"

"…Korra? As in Avatar Korra?"

"Yeah." Still rubbing along his chin, the blond's brow furrowed. "I'm just not sure whether or not Tenzin would agree to the idea. He isn't exactly fond of Pro-Bending."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up for a minute. You wanna replace Hasook with the freaking Avatar? Are you nuts?!"

' _Probably a little, at least. I can't imagine anyone completely sane dreams about faceless people.'_

"What's so crazy about it? She'd probably be at least twice as good after she got in a bit of practice."

"Well yeah, but that isn't the problem here. Didn't you just say last night that she hasn't even seen a match yet?"

"Yeah, but she'll be coming to the one tonight."

"So you don't even know if she likes Pro-Bending yet?"

"Trust me, she'll like it." Naruto chuckled, feeling his lips curve up into a smile. "You should've seen how eager she was even when she was just learning about the rules. If I hadn't known better, I would've thought I was witnessing a fan-girl in the making."

"…Are we talking normal fan-girl or Nora?"

The very thought of another person at Nora's level of obsession with them existing in the world made Naruto shiver. While it had been flattering to have such a devoted fan for a brief period of time, having rather sexually suggestive sketches of himself and Bolin spread throughout the entirety of Republic City was simply going too far. No matter how many times the two of them refuted it, the teen was somehow convinced that they were in a secret relationship with one another.

"Normal-level. Come on, you know I wouldn't be cruel enough to try and get someone like Nora on your team."

"Just making sure." Bolin chuckled. "I had a fan ask for my autograph on one of those pictures of us last night, by the way. Apparently they're still circling around."

Naruto shivered again. "You mean those things that don't exist? Neat. Didn't know you could actually sign something that didn't exist."

Bolin grinned, raised his arms and tucked his hands behind his head. "Turns out you can if you're awesome enough. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll reach my level someday."

"Right. I'll be sure to remember that if I want to be on the same level as the guy who stuffed himself so full of seaweed noodles last night that he could barely move."

"Hey! You ate just as much as I did!"

"True," Naruto conceded. Raising up his index finger, he grinned. "But I ate ramen _and_ I could still move just fine afterwards, so it's nowhere near as bad."

"Pft!"

"But we're getting off-topic," Naruto interjected before his friend could blaspheme himself by insulting the glory that is ramen. "I honestly think you guys would probably be a lot better off with Korra over Hasook. Even from just the one time I saw her bend, she seems so much better than him that it's crazy."

"Could she even play in the first place?" Bolin's head cocked to the side slightly. "Now that I think about it, wouldn't having the Avatar on our team be cheating?"

"If she used all of the elements, sure, but I can't see why it would be against the rules if she only used Waterbending."

"Fair point." Bolin heaved out another sigh before raising both of his hands and raking it through his shaggy hair. "I dunno man, it feels sleazy to even talk about this. Hasook helped get us this far, it just seems wrong to think about kicking him off of the team with the tournament right around the corner."

' _Kind to a fault just like usual. Then again, I guess it wouldn't be the same if you weren't.'_

"Well, it's at least something to think about. Who knows, maybe he'll end up doing something that make it an easy choice."

"Yeah, maybe…"

"In the meantime," Naruto trailed off as he reached up to his bicep and removed one of the three thick bands of metal that encircled the upper portion of it. "We still have some time to kill, so let's work on your Metalbending for a while. Catch."

Reaching an arm out as the blond tossed the band towards him, Bolin's fingers clenched slightly – an action that stopped the band and made it hover in mid-air.

"Again?" Come on, we just did this a few days ago!"

"And you're still struggling to actually do the actual bending part of Metalbending. Once you can actually start shaping it, we'll start practicing less."

"…Fine." Bolin sighed, pulled his arms back and brought the band into range of his free hand. Grabbing it, he twirled it restlessly end-over-end with his hands. "What are we working on today then?"

"Moving the small bits of Earth around in any way you can." Glancing at one of the items in his friend's lap, Naruto grinned. "You need to block your eyes like usual, so it looks like you'll actually get some use out of your stupid hat."

"Beret."

"Whatever."

* * *

 **Chapter 3 End**

* * *

 **Post-Notes**

I'm quickly learning that, at least when it comes to the plot points I'm trying to play close to my chest, I'm so very, very _**!~**_ _ **SUBTLE~!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Naruto nor The Legend of Korra. This is strictly a work of fanfiction that's being written and published without any intention of making a profit.

 **Author's Notes**

Another shorty because reasons. Sorry. The next chapter should include at least one proper fight (Pro-Bending) scene for those more interested in that aspect of the Avatar universe.

* * *

 **You are not Alone**

 **Chapter 4**

* * *

"You're certain that it was Biwako?"

"Yeah…" Thinking for a moment, Naruto sighed. "I'm pretty sure, anyway. Like I said, she never has a face, but everything else about her was right though from what I can remember."

Seated behind the desk in his personal office, Tenzin hummed thoughtfully and stroked his fingers along his beard. "She has never responded to you before last night?"

"Never. She would always just kind of stand around until I woke up." Naruto shivered slightly where he stood. "It's always really, _really_ creepy."

"I can imagine." Tenzin's voice sounded far-off for a moment as his brow furrowed. "Can you describe how her form looked once more?"

"Just like in the old photos my gramps had of her…minus the whole no-face thing, that is. Other than that, her entire body was this weird blue-ish color."

"Was she translucent?"

"…Now that I think about it, yeah." Naruto reached a hand up and scratched his chin, taking secret delight in the feeling of his stubble rubbing against his fingers. "I never really paid attention to it that much before, but I could always see through her like she was a ghost or something. I take it that's important?"

"It is a rather important factor to consider, yes." Tenzin took in a sharp breath before releasing a heavy sigh. "In this case, I think it confirms that whatever it is you are experiencing is certainly spiritual in nature; there are simply too many factors lining up for me to believe otherwise."

"Great," Naruto groaned. "And let me guess, the only way to possibly fix it is to mediate?"

"That would certainly be what I would recommend, yes. Very few people other than the Avatar ever make a connection with a spirit and those few who do usually live deeply spiritual lives. Partaking in meditation on a regular basis and deepening your understanding of your own spirit could very well provide you with clarity about the situation."

"If you say so." Naruto had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the expected answer. "Any idea what the deal is with her missing her face?"

"Possibly, but it's only a theory." Tenzin's expression grew almost uncharacteristically serious. "I will have to read through some of my father's old scrolls and get back to you on the matter. I don't wish to cause you any undue stress if I am mistaken."

"That sounds pretty serious…"

"Most matters involving the Spirit World turn out to be very serious, I'm afraid." The aged Airbending Master graced him with a small smile despite the weight his words held. "Still, as I said, I could be mistaken. Try not to fret over it too much until we know more."

"Heh, no worries there; I've got Pro-Bending to keep my mind distracted for the immediate future."

"Yes, I'm sure you do." The irritation in his voice was quite clear. "You and Korra are both incredibly like-minded in that regard, it seems."

"C'mon Tenzin~" Naruto couldn't resist the urge to grin. "You know you wanna see a match."

"I most certain do n—" Tenzin paused, his brow slowly beginning to twitch. "…You're taunting me again, aren't you?"

"Yuh huh."

The aged man heaved out an exasperated sigh and shook his head. "Shouldn't you be leaving?"

"Kicking me out already? How cold-hearted of you." Chuckling, Naruto moved towards the door and slid it open. "Alright, I'll go, but let me know if you find out anything."

"I will. You have my word."

"Thanks." Stepping partially out the door, Naruto turned his head over his shoulder. "I'll be sure to bring Korra back before it gets too late."

Nodding curtly in understanding, Tenzin watched as his door slid shut and he heard the blond's footsteps echoing down the wood flooring in the hallway. It was only after the steps had faded away completely that he stood up and turned around to face the large, wooden case that was tucked against the wall behind his desk. Numerous books and scrolls alike were stored within, many of which were written by hand and one-of-a-kind. Stepping up to it, he let his eyes wander over the numerous titles and scroll-ends that were facing him.

"Now where is it…" Mumbling under his breath, Tenzin held up a finger and ran it along a line of scrolls. He pulled a few out just far enough to read the titles printed above the seal, but slid them back almost immediately afterwards.

"Not that one either," he sighed, sliding back another scroll. "Where in the world did I put it?" Eyeing another scroll-end, he pulled it out and let his eyes linger on the single word printed above the seal.

 _ **Koh**_

* * *

' _Mmm, smells like they're having sweet buns tonight. Maybe I'll see if I can snag a couple if I decide to come back later.'_

Putting his thoughts of food aside, Naruto closed the remaining distance to the Airbender Dining Hall and poked his head into the frame of the already-open sliding door. Unlike his last visit, there were only a few Air Acolytes present for the evening meal; despite that fact though, the room still felt quite filled though given the presence of the Airbending family at a table to the far left. Pema was currently holding a fussing Meelo still and wiping his face with a handkerchief even as Ikki was balancing what looked to be a bowl of rice on her head. Jinora and Korra seemed to be behaving themselves well enough, though it was clear that the later was obviously amused at the whole situation given the wide smile she was sporting.

"Honestly, how do you manage to get so messy even when we're having bread and soup for dinner?"

"Moooooooom~!"

"Don't you mom me, Mister. Hold still." Pausing in her efforts to clean her son's face for a moment, Pema brought the handkerchief she held to her lips and licked it before returning to her previous task.

"Eeeeeeew! That's so gross!"

"Well if you would have stopped fussing, it might not have come to this." Meelo groaned in discontent as his mother began scrubbing his cheeks harder. "Ikki, food belongs on the table or in your stomach, not on your head.

"Awww~! But I wanted to practice my balance!"

"Then practice it outside young lady." Turning her head, Pema leveled a look at her youngest daughter that no child wants to be on the receiving end of. "Put. The bowl. Down."

Ikki quickly complied, clearly wanting to avoid getting on her mother's bad side.

' _This reminds me so much of the dinners at home that it's a little crazy…'_

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Naruto rapped his knuckles on the frame of the door. "Knock, knock," he said as nearly everyone in the Dining Hall turned to face him. "You ready to go, Korra?"

"You know it!" Beaming, the aforementioned brunette quickly pushed herself up to her feet. "I've been waiting for this all day!"

"Heh, well I guess I'll have to do my best to make sure it's worthwhile then." Grinning, Naruto waved towards the others as Korra walked around the table and over towards him. "You guys look like you're having fun."

"Hmph. Too much fun and too little supper, I think."

"Ah…you're probably right, of course." Naruto knew first-hand that it was typically best to simply concede such a trivial argument to Pema when she wasn't in a particularly good mood. "Well I just wanted to say hey to everyone before we took off, but it looks like you're pretty busy yourselves. We'll just go ahead and get out your hair."

"Thank you." Despite clearly being in a rather foul mood, Pema shot him a small smile. "Good luck in your match tonight."

"Thanks." Not wanting to linger any longer than necessary, the blond turned and walked away as soon as Korra reached the door. Setting a brisk pace as she followed along behind him, the duo quickly reached the long flight of stairs that descended down to the dock constructed on the Eastern side of Air Temple Island.

"I heard you did some pretty awesome stuff in the ring last night."

"Oh yeah?" Naruto glanced over his shoulder. "You read the morning paper again, I take it?"

"Nope. I listened in on the radio last night."

"Really now? What'd you think?"

"Oh man, it sounded incredible! Hearing the crowd and that guy describing everything going on, I almost felt like I was there."

"Well it's even better in person, trust me on that." Naruto glanced over to his left as Korra moved forward to descend the steps alongside him. "I think you're gonna love it."

"Yeah," Korra's smile was practically beaming. "I think so too."

* * *

"Whoa. …Are there always so many people here?"

Korra's voice was filled with awe as she stood beside Naruto – her eyes lingering on the large crowd of people all standing in a winding line front of the large, golden arena.

"Pretty much. There are some nights where it's a little slow, but this is a pretty normal crowd for a Saturday."

"How're you supposed to get through everyone though? You guys don't just wait in line to get in every night do you?"

"No, we don't." Turning his head enough to catch her eye, Naruto reached out and pointed to several uniformed men and women standing in a line. "See all of those people off to the side in front of that roped off area?"

"Yeah."

"They're here to keep that path behind them clear so that the teams can get in quickly without being pushed and pulled by all the fans. They'll cover us to the side of the arena where we actually go in."

"Oh. I guess makes sense."

"Mhmm. Well c'mon, let's get going." Turning, Naruto began walking off to the side with Korra quickly following along. Smiling and waving to the fans who turned around in line and hollered his name, he quickly made his way to the two uniformed men standing in front of the entrance to the guarded path.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't boy wonder himself." The dark-haired, dark-eyed guard on the left smirked, the large bandage resting over the bridge of his nose stretching along with his lips.

"So it is." The other guard smiled warmly, meeting the blond's gaze with his left eye – the other hidden beneath a large portion of his hair that hang over the right side of his face. "Hello Naruto."

"Izumo. Kotetsu." Naruto grinned. "How're you guys tonight?"

"Pretty good, all things considered. Had a few crazies try to slip by already, but what can ya do?"

"Anything worse than normal?"

"Not really," Izumo chuckled as he waved a hand dismissively. "Just Nora and some of her friends again."

"Ah," Naruto cringed slightly. "Sorry for that."

"No big deal, we're paid well enough to deal with it." Kotetsu grinned. "She's handing out more of those pictures just so you know."

"Hm? More of those what now? I could have sworn you said something, but it was like the thing you said didn't actually exist."

"Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that, buddy." Chuckling, the bandaged guard turned his gaze towards Korra. "Taking a fan in with you again?"

"Something like that." Grinning himself now, Naruto stepped aside slightly and gestured back towards his fellow teen. "Guys, meet Korra; Korra, meet the Goons."

"Hey," having been following the conversation, Korra offered with a small smile and a wave after being introduced. "Nice to meet you two."

"Korra? …Why does that name sound so familiar?" Kotetsu trailed off, his brow furrowing deeply in thought.

"That would be because we were just talking about her earlier today after reading the paper," Izumo chided his partner. After a moment, he raised his hands, pressed the knuckles of his left hand into his right at chest-level and bowed. "It is an honor to meet you, Avatar Korra."

Kotetsu's eyes went wide and he sounded as if he choked for a moment, but he quickly recovered. "Avatar Korra, please forgive me," he bowed deeply at the waist. "I'm afraid I didn't know who you were."

"It's fine," Korra laughed off a bit nervously. "I'm not really used to people greeting me all formally anyway."

"Still…"

"Oh let it go, she said it was fine." Reaching out, Naruto smacked the older man's shoulder. "So is she able to get checked in all proper like or am I gonna have to smuggle her in?"

"Orders from the boss are to limit you to no more than two guests, so you're clear to head on inside," Izumo offered with an amused smile. "Do try to make sure your match is at least a bit longer than the one last night though, will you? It was rather boring being stuck on duty with no good matches coming through the radio and no one other than this idiot for company."

"H-hey!"

"No worries there, I'm sure the Ferrets will put up a good fight." Naruto nodded at the man before moving forward and beckoning Korra to follow along.

"Your friends seem pretty nice."

"Heh, yeah, those two are pretty laid back sort of guys. If you like them though, I think you and Bolin will get along great."

"Bo-who now?"

"Bolin," Naruto beamed as he turned around and walked backwards to keep eye contact with the brunette. "He's the Earthbender for the Fire Ferrets."

"Oh yeah!" Korra's face lit up and she snapped her fingers. "I remember him now, the announcer on the radio mentioned the name a few times during the Ferrets match; he seemed to focus a lot more on what Mako was doing though."

"I figured as much. Bolin's a great Earthbender, but Mako's really the star of the Ferrets at the moment. That'll probably change before the end of the season though."

"Really? What makes you say that?"

"I've been taking up a lot of his time teaching him how to Metalbend, but I plan to start doing some mock bending battles with him once the tournament is set to start. He should get a pretty big bump in skill around then."

"Wait…" Korra cocked her head to the side, clearly confused. "You're teaching somebody on another team how to Metalbend?"

"Mhmm. He might not be on the same team as me, but Bolin's my best friend. Competition or not, I'll help him out however I can." Pausing for a moment, Naruto chuckled. "Besides, the guy has always _really_ wanted to be a proper Metalbender and more of those are always welcome."

"Oh. Must be weird having to go up against your friend like that."

"Less so than you might think." Grinning, the blond quickly pushed himself up the steps that led to the side entrance of the Pro-Bending arena with his companion following suit. The golden glow that the entire wall gave off was rather blinding regardless of whether or not you made a point to divert your eyes away from the lights. A guard stationed near the door silently opened the door as they approached to reveal the rather bland-looking stone hallway that laid within. "Most of my friends and family are benders, so I've gotten used to sparring and training with people I'm close to."

"Heh, same here." Korra slowed her stride as they stepped into the building, her gaze slowly drifting over every detail of the hallway.

"Look a bit more normal than you were expecting?"

"Yeah… I figured it would look a bit more like it does on the outside."

"You're not the only one, pretty much everybody expects it to look a lot fancier on the inside than it actually is. I think this place was intentionally designed to be that way to be honest with you; it probably puts a few more butts in the seats.

"With everything that you've told me about, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case." Despite her words on the matter, Korra grinned as she continued looking around the large hallway.

"Pretty massive, isn't it?"

"You can say that again." The brunette finally returned her gaze to him. "This hall alone is bigger than my parents' igloo."

"Heh, just wait until you see the actual arena then." Naruto pointed towards a curved corridor off to the right. "We'll have to head down that way first though, I need to swing by my team's locker room and get changed into my uniform."

"I figured." Korra suddenly smirked before she swept her arm forward in a grandiose gesture. "Lead the way, good sir."

"But of course, Miss Avatar." Turning and slowly walking backwards away from her, Naruto grinned cheekily. "I wouldn't want you to go falling into any holes and getting yourself hurt."

"…You're just asking to get thrown into the harbor again."

"Do it and my retaliation will be twice as bad as it already will be."

"Oh? Is that a threat I hear, city boy?"

"It isn't a threat, it's a promise." Naruto's grin grew a smidge larger. "And if there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I never break my promises."

* * *

 **Chapter 4 End**

* * *

 **Post-Notes**

A new story and a story update within one week of one another? …Whelp, time for me to disappear for a year again.


End file.
